Rising Park Day keeps people entertained

LANCASTER – While it rained on the Lancaster Festival’s Wednesday night concert, people attending Rising Park Day on Thursday couldn’t have had better weather.

Hundreds of people turned out during the festivities, which included musical acts such as the Winchester Steel Company as well as attractions from the Bugman (Mark Berman) to a gymnastics exhibition from the Hocking Valley Gymnastics Center.

This was the first time Laura Allton, of Lancaster, attended Rising Park Day. She brought along her daughter and grandchildren to the event.

“We have three generations here with us today,” Allton said. “You couldn’t ask for any better weather. The Canal Winchester Steel Drum band was just an added extra benefit for us. They are really good.”

As the elder stateswoman of the family, when the group watched the Bugman with spiders, Allton had to be the brave one.

“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever had a spider crawling on me for any length of time,” Allton said.

Leading a whole group of children around the park was Kim Cattran, of Kidz Childcare.

“I bring the children here every year.” Cttran said. “The kids get to see all sorts of things and get to play. For the adults, you get to see a lot of people you don’t normally see. I think I’ve run into at least 20 people I haven’t seen for years.”

It also was a good day for organizations to get the word out about what they do.

The Lancaster Disc Golf Alliance once again set up a couple of holes for people to try their luck and to learn about the sport.

“We’ve had a lot people come through today and try it out,” said Alliance founder and chairman Jason Duchon. “It’s a great sport, and we are working with the Fairfield County Historical Parks District to see if we can set up some golf courses in one of their parks.”

For Joe Piccolo, in his first year as the Lancaster Festival’s executive director, Rising Park Day was a chance to reach out and talk to people and families attending the event.

“The weather was perfect for a day like this,” Piccolo said. “It was great to see everyone coming out to a event like this. I was really surprised by how many turned out.”

cburnett@lancastereaglegazette.com

740-681-4346

Twitter: @CarlBurnettJr