Blackberry Blog

I have to admit, this last year was a dismal disappointment. Many people turned out to be all talk and no walk. There was no follow up conversation on the co-ed softball tournament and the event died for lack of interest, but re-emerged two weeks after our festival under the banner of the Lion’s Labor Day Festival. I’m glad the folks it mattered to got to play, but disappointed we were not given the chance to host the event.

The 2008 Festival lacked the spirit of the two before it. One third of the paying vendors didn’t show up Saturday morning to claim their reserved spaces. Entertainers blew us off without the courtesy of a phone call. Some vendors who were not registered refused to pay for their spaces, citing the property owner gave them permission to be there, (this is always a lame reason as the space near the sidewalk actually belongs to the City of Cave Junction, who allows us to charge for those spaces).

We lost some more vendor spaces last year. Evidently some merchants do not see the value of having a colorful booth in front of their businesses. approximately one third of the downtown thoroughfare is now unavailable for vendor booth space.

The last two years we included the park in the festival site plan at the request of people who feel the park is better suited for family activities. We were fortunate to have the I.V. Family Coalition handle the park activities for us, but the turnout for some of the planned exhibits was poor at best.

The Rogue Valley Flyers had a wonderful display of radio controlled model airplanes that went unnoticed. There were period actors who portrayed famous and historical people from the old frontier days of Josephine County. I very much enjoyed their presentation. It’s a shame that so many others missed them.

The evening free concert was the biggest disappointment from our standpoint. Just a little over a dozen people took the time to come up to the park and enjoy the Bluegrass and Country music. The I.V. Fire Fighter Volunteers set up a hot dog cart to raise money for their organization. They ended up eating their own food and leaving the park empty handed.

This was not what a community festival should have been like, and that is a sad thing to accept. Two weeks later the town was full of activity for a very successful Lion’s Labor Day Festival, and I am happy for them, truly.

They have a bigger, well run organization behind them and they do good things for the Valley as a whole, and individuals in particular. They need to succeed. But it is a good indicator that there is more interest for what they are doing and less interest in what we are doing.

I have spoken to past Blackberry Festival organizers from over the years, and the common denominator can be summed up like this: A lot of people want to see the Blackberry Festival continue, but very few want to do anything to help. So I guess as long as it is someone else’s headache, they don’t mind having it around.

Well, that’s a shame. It appears people don’t care to get involved anymore. Is it because they have so many problems of their own they don’t have time for anything else? I was raised to believe you help yourself by helping others, but I’m starting to feel this outlook isn’t as common as it once was.

This year we tried to incorporate raising money with helping out in the community. We gathered some volunteers from the school that bears her name and cleaned up Mrs. Lorna Byrne’s property, which was grown over and a fire hazard from years of neglect. In return we got to keep the wood, which we put up for sale as firewood in the I.V. News paper.

We didn’t get one single phone call. As time passed it became clear we would struggle in the present economic climate to secure the money needed to put on the festival for 2009. Eventually, the board voted 4 to 2 to suspend this year’s festival. The support just isn’t there and we have no money.

This is why there is no Festival this year. We paid the organization’s operating expenses and continue to be a valid non-profit. We will also continue to have a presence in the community. We hope there will be enough support for next year, and that is our goal at this time. In the meantime, please give your support to the other community non-profit organizations who no doubt are struggling during these trying times, and help those who help others.

Sincerely,

Mark & Judy Russo

I had a surprise phone call the other day from a young lady I haven’t seen or heard from in many years. Her name is Christy, and she called to ask if she and her husband could help with the Blackberry Festival this year. She went on to tell me about what she has been doing since we last spoke, about living in Rogue River the past few years and her decision to move her family back to the valley. One of the things they had been involved with was Pop Warner sports with their kids and she expressed a desire to bring these activities to our kids here. I suggested they consider running the Blackberry co-ed softball tournament as a means to promote their cause and raise funds. She said that was a wonderful idea and  accepted the offer. We will discuss the details at our next meeting, May 7th, 7:30 pm at the Junction Inn restaurant. Anyone interested is welcome to attend. Stay tuned for more news!

Yours, Mark

That’s right, the first run of vendor applications are on they’re way to you. We ran short and need to get more printed, so the next batch will go out the 1st of April. We are including two applications in each mailing. We request you help the festival by inviting someone you know to have a booth at our next event. We have also included a brochure describing the entertainment we will have and outlining some goals we hope to achieve. If by chance you don’t receive your application, or would like more, please contact us, or you can download one from our website. As always we encourage your input, so we can make decisions that better serve the vendors, merchants and the community as a whole.

Til next time,

Mark

Well it’s March, and it looks like we may get an early spring, as we have hummingbirds at our front porch feeder and the daffodils are starting to sprout. Good news for you country music fans! We have signed two more entertainers for the Wild Blackberry Festival coming in August. One is Dan Daniels from Yreka, a gentleman who builds and plays his own dulcimers, among other instruments, and the other is a very talented young lady named Taylor Rose, who has performed at events all over the state, and has even gone to Nashville! You can visit her site Here. We are certainly looking forward to our next festival! We are still looking for talented people for the festival, so if you would like to play, or know someone who would, please contact us at info@wildblackberry.org That’s all for now.

Mark

I’m happy to announce TJ and the Spurs, and The Goldman Family will be two of our groups scheduled to play at the 2008 Wild Blackberry Festival. The Spurs are well known locally for their country music, and the Goldman’s play bluegrass and feature the whole family on various instruments, including a little boy who can play the fiddle behind his back. You can visit the Goldman’s Here. I’m very pleased with both groups, and we are still looking for a few more to round out the weekend’s entertainment. Things are looking Good! More news to Come.

Mark