Come "CHILL ON THE HILL"! Temperatures soared into the 100's with a humidex of 44 C. Setting up on Thursday was a challenge. Jim and I arrived early only to find the "artists village" had not been laid out. This was promptly taken care of by Todd and his daughter. I always go early to set up so that when the other artists come I can give them & their needs my full attention. Scotia Bank set out a wonderful hospitality suite for the artists with fresh brewed coffee, tea, water & soda's. Pizza and delicious cookies! Thank you Scotia Bank for your generosity to the artists of Art In The Park 2013!
This was the first time I've had an artist take ill because of the extreme heat. Even though all artists were encouraged to get into the hospitality room every 1/2 hour just to cool their core temperature down, all artists were encouraged to bring water and iced clothes to place on their necks. Jared left early Thursday due to illness but trooper that he is he came back Saturday after the temperature broke.
Friday was a challenge, temperatures soared again into the 40's. Maria a showing artist,son called her from Burlington warning her that severe weather was moving quickly into our area and it had struck Burlington without warning high winds, torrential rain lightening etc. The town staff had been keeping an eye on the weather as storms were possible in the late afternoon. I reported the phone conversation from Maria's son, to town officials, reminded them that it would take the artists some time to dismantle their displays. It was decided that it would be prudent to have the artists take down half their displays and then wait and see -----( we get a double lake effect with our weather from lake Ontario and Lake Erie, bad weather often passes us by) well by the time I got around to all the artists, it was evident that the storm was imminent. All artists moved quickly to get their work safely packed inside Town Hall, tents dropped and on their way home. On arriving home I checked the weather channel and we were under a tornado warning -- lasted until early morning.
Saturday, 1 tent totally demolished, structural damage in an other tent. One artist's house was struck with lightening and a large mature tree in front of her house was also hit by lightening and was knocked down. The show went on. One artist offered to share half her tent with the artist who lost her tent. Others helped with removing the broken & collapsed tent. Thank you Ruth Maier for showing kindness to someone in need. Unfortunately, it rained off and on all morning and did not finally clear until the afternoon.
Our artists were fantastic through out all of these trials. Congratulations on a great job! I'm very proud of how well you pulled it all together. See you next year. Let's make 2014 the best show yet!
Thank you People of Pelham for your wonderful support!
A Great Pleasure spending this past 4 Day Weekend with you and Jim and all the other Artists. (Kinda felt like a Week tho!)even with the weather challenges. You have assembled a lovely group of diverse and talented Artisans, including yourself, and I love to participate in anything you organize Pat. You are a real Pro at it and an Artist's Organizer! The Entertainment and the Hospitality were Fantastic.
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