Ken Smith/Turnagain Times
A young girl spins yarn at the 34th Annual Forest Fair. Click image for slideshow
A young girl spins yarn at the 34th Annual Forest Fair. Click image for slideshow
By Karen Garcia
Turnagain Times Correspondent
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| Ken Smith/Turnagain Times A young girl spins yarn at the 34th Annual Forest Fair. Click image for slideshow |
It seems the quadrupled security budget and adjusted hours accomplished their intended goal of reducing criminal behavior this year at Forest Fair as vendors, fair-goers, security personnel, and local businesses alike all reported a generally enjoyable and family-friendly experience.
“The whole thing was organized much better than my first experience with it in 2007,” said Sgt. Bryan Barlow of the Alaska State Troopers, Girdwood Post. “The plan was comprehensive enough to take care of the issues that had been a problem in the past. The 24-hour security from Securitas was great, and the volunteer security staff was involved and competent.”
While there were over a dozen people arrested over the course of the weekend, none of these arrests were directly related to the Forest Fair.
“I don’t recall any arrest at the Forest Fair for something that actually occurred in the Forest Fair,” said Barlow.
Of course, once the fair shut down for the evening, people spilled over into local bars and restaurants and became more and more intoxicated, sparking predictable Fourth of July disorderly conduct complaints, including one large fight in front of Crow Creek Mercantile involving around 10 people, none of whom were charged.
“We had a couple of scenarios like that, and some noise complaints,” said Barlow, “but overall people were pretty mellow and were doing what we needed them to do. It was great in that respect.”
During the Fourth of July weekend, Troopers responded to 23 incidents throughout the Girdwood area from Friday through Sunday, making 13 arrests.
The majority of weekend arrests, according to Barlow, were due to pro-active enforcement efforts on the roadways, mainly for DUIs and outstanding warrants.
Other incidents over the course of the weekend included a fatality crash at mile 74 on the Seward Highway, and a pursuit lasting from Bird Point to beyond the Johnson Pass trailhead.
Working alongside the Alaska State Troopers was the Girdwood Fire Department, which also reported a comparatively tame fair compared to 2007.
“The number of EMS runs was far below what we’ve had in the past,” said assistant EMS chief Terry Cadel. “It seemed to be a well-organized fair with not a large amount of call volume generated for the fire department.”
Even the vendors noticed and applauded the absence of illegal activity, noting the additional security as a major factor in hands-on prevention.
“It’s nice to see they went and put forth the extra effort in getting security,” said Shelbi Lynn, a Girdwood resident who had a booth representing a fine-arts cooperative. “As a vendor, we don’t want our artwork or the merchandise that we’ve spent hours laboring over being pilfered.”
While pretty much everyone involved lauded the exceptional security measures and virtual absence of undesirable activity, there was one area of the fair that fell short of expectations.
With space reserved for a maximum of 500 people, the Forest Fair Committee had expected a deluge of people to camp on Heritage Land Bank land. After obtaining a land-use permit, which cost $3,500, the committee needed to fill a majority of the campground to make up the cost. They were charging $25 per person per night, which appears to have deterred campers.
“I have lost thousands of dollars this year,” said Tommy O’Malley, the self-proclaimed “Minister of Paperwork” and spokesman for the Forest Fair. “We had 600 registered people camping two years ago, but this year we have 50-60 campers.”
“To break even we needed 340 people a night,” O’Malley continued, “and right now we are at about fifty. I lost money like crazy.”
In addition to the increased security cost and the $3,500 HLB land-use permit (which previously had never been an issue) the Forest Fair was also required to up their insurance from $2 million to $5 million.
Normally if the Forest Fair garners a profit, the extra money is given away to community charities and organizations. However, this year, with all of the extra costs, it is unclear whether or not the committee will be able to engage in their customary philanthropic endeavors.
“My sense of it is that it wasn’t a big year for us,” said O’Malley. “We’ll still try and give things away. If we do have any money left over, we will be giving it to Little Bears, the Girdwood Fine Arts Camp, and Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts.”
While the Forest Fair itself might have struggled financially, the abundance of people it drew to Girdwood allowed local businesses to thrive this Fourth of July holiday.
“We had a great weekend,” said Judd Crosby, manager of the Silvertip Grill. “Friday night especially was really good here. We had a reggae band play out back and our backyard was just packed with a couple hundred people. Everybody was just dancing and having a great time.”
Kristine Lewis, manager of Maxine’s Glacier City Bistro, also reported a successful Forest Fair weekend at her establishment.
Lewis, while extremely satisfied with this year’s fair, adopted a very forward-thinking mindset and also commented on how she thought the Forest Fair could continue to improve.
“I know there are few things next year as a business owner that I do want to bring to the Forest Fair Committee,” she said. “Just a few suggestions as far as having more recycling and garbage receptacles.”
O’Malley has also begun ruminating over changes for next year, including possibly asking local businesses to chip in on security costs, since they reap many monetary benefits from the fair’s presence.
Also, environmentally speaking, O’Malley hopes the fair can leave less of a footprint in years to come.
“We’re using biodegradable garbage bags this year,” he said. “But we’re going to try and go all biodegradable next year: cups, forks, everything.”
Despite the probable financial losses, exhaustive permit processes, and perpetual bureaucratic gymnastics that have been performed, O’Malley retains a relentless optimism about the Forest Fair and the benefits it brings to the Girdwood community.
“We did it all, cheerfully,” he said. “We jumped through every hoop. But it’s going. People had a great time, and that’s what really matters.”
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