BENTON — Old Fashioned Day may not have raised as much money for the Benton Senior Activity Center as organizers had hoped it would, but one thing was for sure - the one-day festival was blessed with good weather.
“It was a good day, a beautiful day,” said Sherry Parsons, director of the Benton Senior Activity Center, talking about bright sunshine over Old Fashioned Day activities in downtown Benton on Oct. 8, when more than 10,000 people enjoyed the day’s fun and games.
The annual event benefits the senior cen-ter’s activities and is the biggest annual festival in Benton. Parsons said the attendance was greater this year than for the 2010 Old Fashioned Day.
One of the highlights of the day was the women’s skilletthrowing contest.
It was won for the third time by Rita Spainhour, who works for the senior center. She tossed the skillet 32 feet. She also won in 2008 and 2009.
“Everywhere you looked, people were walking around enjoying themselves,” Parsons said.
However, t he 2011 Old Fashioned Day brought in less money for the senior center, she said.
“It looks like we collected about $12,000, a big difference from the $21,000 we saw from the event last year,” Parsons said. “It was more people but less money.”
She said tickets to the inflated bounce castles and slides are a major source of funds for the festival, but that one of the usual suppliers did not come to the event, and others brought fewer structures for use by the children.
The income was also lower this year from the 109 vendor booths that went up aroundthe Saline County Courthouse during Old Fashioned Day.
Mike Woodall, organizer of the first Old Fashioned Day concert at C.W. Lewis Stadium, said the concert drew an audience of only about 500.
“We were disappointed,” Woodall said. “Moving the Arkansas Razorback football game from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. affected us. I heard people say they would have liked to go [to the concert], but they were going home to watch the game.”
He said the concert committee would find out next week how much money the event made for the senior center.
“The bands were great. They saw the crowd but didn’t cut their shows and went the full time,” Woodall said. “The people that were there had a great time.”
Woodall said he hopes another concert will be held next year, but the committee will evaluate what happened and look at ways to increase the turnout.
Parsons was optimistic about the event and said she is looking forward to working on next year’s 40th Old Fashioned Day.
Staff writer Wayne Bryan can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or wbryan@arkansasonline.com.
Tri-Lakes, Pages 135 on 10/16/2011