Fallfest

WESTMINSTER - With a record-breaking attendance this year, FallFest collected $21,000 during the celebration last weekend, said Carol Donovan, the city's supervisor of activities and recreation."

When the 2012 Westminster Fallfest celebration kicks off on Thursday night, Sept. 27, with the annual parade, Woody Higgs will be right at the front. Higgs, along with five other residents representing Special Olympics-Maryland, Carroll County, will carry the Fallfest banner. "We're really excited," said Donna McGuire, assistant volunteer coordinator for Special Olympics, and Higgs' mother. "This is our first time in Fallfest. " Special Olympics, along with Carroll Hospice, the Taneytown Lions Club and the Stacey Davis Breast Cancer Fund, was selected to be the partners for this year's annual Fallfest.

The 22nd annual Westminster Fallfest will open Wednesday with the parade celebration from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. through downtown. The parade will begin at Dutterer Family Park off Monroe Street and then continues down Pennsylvania Avenue to Main Street, to Longwell Avenue to Westminster East Middle School. Marching bands, floats and organizations will be featured in the parade. The festival fun will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday and continue until 10 p.m. with rides, games, food and music at Westminster City Playground.

Just as Labor Day traditionally marks the start of September, Westminster's annual Fallfest marks the end with a celebration that offers something for all ages and benefits local charities. Kicking off on Sept. 22 with a parade, the festival will run through Sept. 25. Traditions continue as Fallfest will feature Midnight Madness shopping, the annual Buffalo Wild Wings challenge, the Fallfest mile run and rides and musical entertainment every night. Fallfest is a communitywide celebration, but at its heart is an effort to help local charitable organizations.

Sooooeeeeeeeeeee!Among other things, the 18th annual Westminster Fallfest is looking for the best sow summoner in the county. That person will be chosen at Hahn's of Westminster's pig calling contest at 2 p.m. Saturday on the playground stage downtown."

The Westminster Fallfest parade, usually held on a Wednesday night as part of opening festivities, will be held at 3 p.m. today. The 25th anniversary parade will assemble on Monroe Street and begin marching down Pennsylvania Avenue, east on Main Street to Longwell Avenue to East Middle School. Motorists should expect delays if they are traveling in the area during parade time. The parade will feature about 60 units, including Westminster police and fire officials and vehicles; antique fire and police vehicles; local municipal and high school bands; dance teams; motorcycles; 4-H clubs; floats; church groups; civic, public and health organizations; gymnastics groups; day care centers; majorette and drum corps marching units; color guards; cheerleaders; and businesses.

SINCE 1978, Westminster has held an all-out gala, a celebration of autumn. This annual event sprawls over a two-block area in downtown, offering something for everyone.This year Westminster Fallfest is scheduled for Thursday through Sunday and will include a variety of entertainment, food, a parade, rides, vendors and more."We draw between 30,000 and 40,000 people if the weather is right," said organizer Ron Schroers.Fallfest will kick off with a parade Thursday at 7 p.m., with State Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein serving as grand marshal.

WESTMINSTER - Come celebrate the season this weekend as the city's downtown area explodes with activity in FallFest 1990.Two large blocks between Railroad Avenue and Center Street will sponsor 25 hours of continuous entertainment on two stages from 7 to 11 p.m.tomorrow, 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.Commonplace to extraordinary foods will be offered. Delicacies from places like Greece, Italy and the Orient will be available."I defy anyone to come up with a food we don't offer," said Carol Donovan, supervisor of activities and recreation, adding only two duplications of foods are allowed.

THE ARRIVAL of autumn will be followed closely by Westminster's annual Fallfest, which is scheduled for Sept. 25-28.The popular weekend family event begins with a parade at 7 p.m. on that Thursday. The parade will start near Western Maryland College and continue along Main Street past the library and then along Longwell Avenue. The parade route ends at East Middle School.On Thursday and Friday nights, children can ride amusement rides all night for $7.The Reisterstown Jazz Ensemble will perform at 8 p.m. Thursday.

For the first time in the 20-year history of Westminster Fallfest, vendors at the four-day celebration will be prohibited from selling carbonated beverages, a move that has drawn criticism from a local nonprofit group.The Westminster Optimist Club has complained to the nine-member Fallfest Committee, criticizing its decision to bar the club and 17 other food vendors from selling carbonated drinks."Fallfest is one of our biggest moneymakers," said Henry Lysy, Optimist president. "With this policy, they take about 50 percent of the funds we usually raise at this event and basically give the money to another organization."

Kevin and Karen Stewart weren't voted the homecoming king and queen during their high school years. But they'll be wearing a crown and tiara this week. Last month, the Stewarts were chosen the King and Queen of the annual Westminster Fallfest, which takes place this year Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 22-25 in the downtown area. The Stewarts' long record of service to the Westminster community was the integral factor in earning the award. "I was reading some of the bios of the nominees from organizations like the Boys and Girls Club and the Rape Crisis Center, and I didn't expect (to be nominated)

Food, a fun run, a parade, rides, crafts, cars, music, contests, shopping madness, autumn activities, bingo and a little magic will mark the 29th annual Westminster Fallfest that kicks off Tuesday with the Dine Out fundraiser. Local restaurants have agreed to give 10 percent of their profits -- from 4 p.m. to closing that day -- to Fallfest. Participants include Legends Cafe, KFC, Frisco Family Pub, Buffalo Wild Wings, Paradiso and Papa John's Pizza. Restaurants are still registering and will have a Fallfest sign in their window, said Chairwoman Karen Black.

The 29th annual Westminster Fallfest kicks off a week of activities today in the downtown area with the Fallfest Mile Run and the annual parade. The Fallfest Mile is for those who can run a mile in 15 minutes or less. All participants must have pre-registered. The run starts at 3:45 p.m. on Main Street and will end at 4 p.m. The parade will step off at 4 p.m. from Dutterer's Park down Pennsylvania Avenue to Main Street to East Middle School on Longwell Avenue. Floats, majorettes, bands and politicians will be featured in this two-hour extravaganza.

CENTRAL Kids items to be sold Saturday The Christian Preschool and Kindergarten Program of Westminster will hold its 11th annual Kids Consignment Sale of quality children's clothing and accessories from 7 a.m. to noon Saturday at 65 Washington Road. The sale will feature children's school, dress and play clothes, pajamas and rain gear, baby equipment, swings, strollers, cribs, changing tables, nursery decor, safety equipment and toys. Items that have been donated will be sold tax-free.

Habitat for Humanity in Carroll County had planned to use funding from Westminster's annual Fallfest, which ends today, to start building a second home in the area. But plans changed after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, destroying 99 Habitat homes and damaging hundreds of others. Now the organization will use some of the money to gather materials to create a "home in a box" to be shipped from Carroll to affiliates in the Gulf, said Marcia Weller, executive director. "We have had so many calls since the disaster from people wanting to help," Weller said.

The 28th annual Westminster Fallfest, a welcome to autumn, opens with a parade today and several new events during the week. Fallfest provides thousands of dollars to nonprofit organizations each year. This year's charities are Carroll Hospice, Habitat for Humanity of Carroll County, Missions of Mercy and Residents Attacking Drugs. The first new event is a Fallfest Road Mile Race starting at 4 p.m. just before the parade. The Central Maryland Athletic Club is hosting the race along the parade route from Monroe Street to Pennsylvania Avenue to Main Street to East Middle School on Longwell Avenue.

Four volunteers with a total of 46 years invested in Westminster's Fallfest received a tangible "thank you" from the mayor and City Council this year.The 17th annual city festival and craft fair Sept. 21-24 raised $1,000 apiece for seven local organizations.The four-day event features a parade, crafts, games, rides and shows."It was very nice to get the pat on the back," said Marshall "Jamie" Green, a 10-year volunteer and chairman of Fallfest 1995. "Receiving acknowledgment from the city was very gratifying, that someone is recognizing the effort."

Westminster's parade to launch the city's annual Fallfest will include all the things one might expect from a small-town parade: antique fire engines and marching Girl Scouts, cartwheeling gymnasts and tiara-wearing homecoming queens. Everything but campaigning politicians. The committee that organizes Fallfest decided Thursday not to allow people running for public office to march as candidates in the parade Sept. 20. "Fallfest is a family event," said Ronald J. Schroers, Westminster's recreation director and head of the seven-member executive board that organizes Fallfest.

Westminster's 26th annual Fallfest drew its biggest crowds ever, thanks to lots of sunshine - generating profits that enabled record-setting contributions to its four designated charities. "It was a great Fallfest," said Ronald J. Schroers, Westminster's administrator of recreation and parks and the event chairman for 10 years. "It was a record-setter - the most money we've ever given out," he said. Each of the four designated groups received an $8,500 donation at a ceremony Tuesday night, Schroers said.

Rock Hall FallFest Nestled next to the Chester River, the normally quiet and quaint town of Rock Hall bustles with activity during its annual FallFest. This year, the festivities start tomorrow night with an evening concert by the Deanna Bogart Band, which specializes in blues music. Saturday, several roads downtown close to traffic and open to street artisans, crafts people and roaming musicians. Near the river, watermen display their workboats, skipjacks, crabbers, oyster boats and clammers.