Rain may have kept some away from the Edgewater Marina’s art festival on Foster Lake Saturday and Sunday, but it drove at least one couple to stop by.
Leah and Perry Casper of Eugene were camping at Cascadia, but the rain kept falling, Leah Casper said. So they got into their car and drove around. They saw the activity and decided to stop, getting a chance to sample wine from Marks Ridge Winery.
“It’s been busy enough, all things considered,” said Jay Westly, owner of Marks Ridge Winery.
Amy Newport, who owns and operates Mr. Lucky’s Deli, sold out of hot dogs and polish dogs with more than an hour left during the five-hour festival on Saturday.
She stayed busy, she said. “It rained. People still wanted to eat. In fact, they eat more.
“You don’t make a lot of money. For me it’s kind of fun socializing.”
“It’s a decent crowd, even with the rain,” said Steve Leith, a partner in the marina.
The owners of the marina intend to run the event annually, possibly adding another at the beginning of the recreation season, sometime in early June, to bookend the summer.
“The whole idea, the whole picture is to get this waterfront more use,” Leith said. “Let’s get people down here. Community events like this are part of it.”
He would like to see more ideas to leverage the resource Sweet Home available with the waterfront, he said.
“Of course, it fits with our business too,” he said, but as part of its agreement with the U.S. Corps of Engineers, his company manages the shoreline in the area as a public resource.
“It’s felt so underutilized,” he said. “That was part of the driving force for doing the project in the first place. We’re committed to making things like this work down here, and this is just one idea.”
Music was provided by several area performers, including the Dinsfriend Trio. Vendors had a variety of items for sale, from rock mats and jewelry to paintings, carvings and books and presentations on a new approach to leadership, where author Debra J. Slover is trying to “create a new view of leadership, one that empowers the unique leadership characteristics within everyone.”
“I’ve been having a really nice time,” said Colleen Wiley, who was selling artwork, mostly pen and ink and watercolors.”
It might have been busier if it hadn’t rained, she said, but “it’s a nice spot to do it.”