May 8, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Behind the scenes at the Garden Festival
by FRAN O’DONNELL, Main Street Manager, Chestnut Hill Business Association

After a gray morning, it turned out to be a beautiful day for the annual Home and Garden Festival on Germantown Avenue.  The street was filled with people from across the area who gathered for a day of food and fun in Chestnut Hill. Photos (Clockwise from top, left): Tim Cunningham of Caffette showed off his cooking skills as he prepared lunch for many people on the Avenue. Dixie the dog visited with Scott and Natasha  Slezak, 2, of Philadelphia. Juggler, Mike LeRoy of Mt. Airy, entertained the crowd with this live performance on the street. Brad Jackson, 3, of Merion Park showed his soccer skills at the B-101 table with the help of Mike Kelly. (Photos by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

Little did I know what was in store for me as the day of my first garden festival as the Chestnut Hill Business Association’s main street manager began. Sure, you can make  plans, but mother nature has a mind of her own.  Let me take you through a garden festival weekend. 

It’s 2 p.m. on the Friday before the festival. The phone is ringing off the wall in the office.  Everyone wants to know if we are canceling the festival because the five day forecast shows a possibility of rain. The restaurants are on edge about the amount of food to buy.   They need to know early so they don’t get stuck with a fridge full of food and no takers come Sunday. As the day proceeds, a few last-minute, optimistic vendors are added to the list.  Although the weather picture for Sunday looks better, we decide to wait till noon on Saturday to make the call.

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Driving in on Saturday morning the weather is chilly and cloudy,  but the Hill is “In Bloom.”  With the recent landscaping of Bowman’s Properties’ Iris location and the green thumb of Joe Thomas across the street at Jacob Ruth’s, the Avenue shines as the Garden District of Philadelphia. The Chestnut Hill Hotel, too, has never looked better  — you must check out the rear gardens and fountain. My hat is off you Mr. Pete, [That’s Ron Pete, the Hotel’s new owner]. I can’t wait to see the pond.

As I arrived at the office the phone continued to ring. Now it was the exhibitors piping in that we should cancel the festival. I told them to sit tight and we’d make the call at high noon. 

As has been the case with the past 12 festivals, the devil is in the details. Our clipboards were filled with checklists including power requirements, vendor placement, entertainment schedules, location of city-required hand washing stations and additional trash receptacle placements. I was getting a full look and feel of the behind the scenes of the festival. We proceeded on with all our Pre-Day punch lists. 

Finally, noon on Saturday.  The moment of truth.  We check the weather one last time.  It shows a slight chance of early morning showers. We haven’t canceled a Garden Festival in 12 years. Peggy Hendrie assured me the blessed mother was on her front window sill and had helped us in the past. We crossed our fingers and gave the festival the thumbs up. Our decision was met with some skepticism, but it was finally decided.

In past years, I viewed the festival as a 9 to 6 day at O’Doodle’s [The shop I own for those who don’t know]. Some prep in the a.m. and the monster clean up of a toy store in the p.m.  This year, however, as the new main street manager, I found myself turning of my alarm clock at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday morning and wakeing to a cold and cloudy day.  Had we made the right decision?

As I drove past the entrance to the Morris Arboretum, the fog was so thick that the giant poppies (you gotta’ see ‘em) on the lawn were hardly visible.  I hit the avenue at 6 a.m, and the rental company was already putting up the tents and placing other rented equipment on the avenue. We had a lot to do before 11 a.m. when the crowds would show up.

We assembled for a quick meeting, and the deployment began. Peggy Hendrie to the Food Court.  Kate O’Neill and Peggy Miller to vendor booths with signage.  Stretch and Tom Hendrie to side street signage and trash cans.  Myles Joseph the electrician and his son were off to “power” the booths.   I was of the Hill’s gateways with balloons and welcoming signage.  With walkie talkies in hand, we were off!

Over the walkie talkies … need to call for a replacement grill for food court. … Myles we need more power to the cotton candy machine. … Anybody have a screw driver? We need it at tent 26A. … We have to move a vendor out of the cross at Bethlehem and Germantown. … More trash cans needed in the 8300 block. ... Pooch parade is in 10 minutes. Are all the dogs ready?

Communication was key and we kept in our time frame.  As the morning moved on so did the grey clouds.  We were in for a great day and it was. 

The street was packed with people by noon. We had some concerns about the impact of the road closures further down the Hill.  This was not the case.  We parked more than 200 cars in our lots, and off street parking was at a premium.  The crowd contained many new faces and many who were now attending with their own children.  Smiles were everywhere, especially on us in the office.  The weather was on our side!

The festival went off without a hitch.  The Philadelphia Police are to be commended on their assistance and protection during this huge event.  Our new bike cop, Steve Arbiz, was integral in closing, patrolling and reopening the Avenue.  The one part of the day, which I never witnessed before, was the transformation of the Avenue from Festival Folly to the return of the Garden Charm of Germantown Avenue.  The process of breaking down the Avenue was amazing. It was comparable to a comprehensive battle plan being played out or a highly choreographed dance routine. As the vendors packed up, the Philadelphia Police would isolate a block to ensure no parking on the avenue.  With that, the rental trucks moved in to load the tents and equipment.  These were followed by the sanitation collection truck, which picked up vendor and public trash. Moments later, the Streets Departments showed up with not just one street cleaner but three.  First was the sweeper truck, followed by the street vacuum, followed by a highly powerful street power washer, which left the street spotless.

The Avenue was back to normal by 7:45 p.m.  Marty Archer and all at the city are to be congratulated for the efforts.

Speaking with vendors and merchants, it did not meet the record breaking attendance of last year in terms of sales.  This seemed to be a result of our current economy.  It did however bring a lot of new faces to the Avenue — many who came to check out what Forbes has defined us as: one of the seven best urban enclaves in the country.  We are glad they visited.