I do not know how many of you had the opportunity to visit our downtown this weekend.
It you didn't, you missed an absolutely great time. You have heard me talk about developing a sense of place in a community - well this weekend was a prime example of ways to do that. When you visit a downtown, or any place for that matter, and it makes you feel good it develops that sense of place and makes you absolutely want to return.
This weekend, of course, was Lucy Fest 2012. As you walked through the downtown there were license plates from all over. I saw California, Oregon, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida, Virginia and the Carolinas, all for starters. People were walking everywhere. What a great thing! The theme for this year's Lucy Fest was the "Lucy World Games" - what a fitting theme when you consider all the world happenings.
The Party on the Plaza was exceptionally good and well attended. There was entertainment, music, food and drinks. I think one of the most notable things was the fact people were just plain having a good time. There were plenty of Lucy look-alikes and there was a gentleman who represented Groucho Marx. There were lots of things going on and many were free - there was something for everyone and, of course, it all revolved around comedy. Lucy and Desi were very much in attendance, along with Fred and Ethyl, and they were their more than congenial selves.
I was particularly interested in the opening ceremonies as we had suggestions that the public be invited to attend and everyone play their instruments to the I Love Lucy theme. This option was offered this year, and the Lucy Desi Center provided music for people to use. Guess what? A number of people showed up to play with the host band and it was really good. The words to the I Love Lucy theme were also provided for the crowd so they could all sing in tribute to Lucy and this event. There is nothing better than comedy except maybe great music to make everyone feel good.
The shows were exceptionally good and well done this year. I think everyone really enjoyed them. The comedians were also very good and it would have been very hard to direct yourself away from any of them after they started.
We need to thank the Lucy Desi Center for holding this event and putting another feather in the cap of Jamestown. We also need to recognize all the sponsors who supported this event because without them these types of events cannot happen. There is one other area of thanks we need to applaud - that is a big thank you to all the volunteers and the people who worked very hard behind the scenes to make an event of this magnitude successful. Thank you to everyone who was involved and helped.
There was one other thing that was extremely successful this weekend. The Jamestown Savings Bank Arena held a concert on Lafayette Street. The band was The Town Pants and I believe they were from Vancouver. They produced some great music to a huge crowd of people on the other side of town from the Lucy Fest. Thank you to the arena. This proves just one thing - it can all work! It is events like these that make Jamestown world class.