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I can remember going to the Toronto Festival of the Arts when I was little.
I recall walking around through a huge crowd of people.
There was hardly space in which to move.
There were people everywhere.
Crafters everywhere.
So much to look at that there simply wasn't enough time to see it all in one day.
This was probably in the early 1980s being that the festival is 46 years old this year. I would have been around 10.
There was a small pizzelle stand in the parking lot of the First Presbyterian Church.
The man who ran it made different flavors of the Italian cookie.
I think they were packaged by the dozen and wrapped in plastic.
I wish he was still there.
His cookies were wonderful.
Does anyone make a good pizzelle anymore?
I haven't had one in years.
I believe the church used to be a part of the festival, too, because I can remember entering the basement from the back stairs and going inside to find numerous children playing with so many toys and games.
There were certain crafts set up in paneled rooms and food was sold by the women who worked in the church kitchen.
In more recent years, the church contributed toward the festival by allowing the works of local artists to be placed inside the large room next to its sanctuary.
Visitors could go inside and hear someone playing the guitar as they looked at the different images which had either won or placed in a local show.
Today, I am not even sure if the church is open during the festival anymore.
I guess I will have to wait and see.
It was such a well-attended and crowded event.
People throughout Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania used to travel to our tiny town to enjoy the dozens and dozens and dozens of vendors.
Crafts were everywhere you looked. They seemed to go on for miles.
Wreaths, candlesticks, pretty much anything you could ever want to decorate your home with could be found at one of the tents that were set up along the city streets.
I can remember a man used to sell those long wooden cork guns to children.
It seemed like every boy in Toronto had one.
Everywhere you walked you heard that popping sound that scared you half to death.
And then you were scared the other half a few steps later by another boy who fired his gun where you weren't looking.
It has been a while since I have seen this vendor at the festival. Unlike the pizzelle man, I do not miss him that much.
I remember several years ago, my children and I went to the festival.
It is usually a pretty good walk, as you can't park in the immediate vicinity of the block. I found a wallet on the ground that had more than $100 inside.
Someone had obviously went to the bank and withdrew their spending money for the event.
My children could not believe it.
They thought I was rich. But I don't work that way.
The only thing I knew to do was to turn the wallet over to the Toronto in Focus people who were working the gazebo where door prizes were being awarded and tickets were being sold for chances to enter a drawing to win donated items.
I simply said someone lost this should anyone come and ask if a wallet had been found.
Again, I have always tried to be a positive example for my children. Try being the operative word.
But I can say with utmost certainty that I have attended the Festival of the Arts in my hometown for at least 35 years of my life. If not more.
When I was young, my parents or a step-parent would take me.
When I became a teenager, I would go with a friend or perhaps even a boyfriend. As a mother, I would take my children.
But no matter who I went with, my mother was almost always there as well.
It is kind of like our thing.
Not that we are very much into crafts, but rather, being there together.
Spending that little bit of quality time with one another.
It was and is nice to share those moments with her.
Throughout the years, the festival has gotten smaller. Not as crowded as it used to be.
And I am not sure the reason.
But time does that.
The group that organizes the festival does a wonderful job at making sure the event represents the Gem City.
They plan and work well in advance of the festival to ensure it is a success.
And they are to be commended.
It is truly a nice little festival to attend if you have never been before.
You can sometimes find some beautifully-made crafts or delicious fudge or amazing-scented candles.
And I love when someone is selling those shredded chicken sandwiches with the gravy.
The meatball sandwiches are delicious and the Lions Club has fantastic chicken dinners.
I will stop here because now, I am starving.
All kinds of entertainment is offered throughout the day, including singers, dancers, bands and musicians.
It is an extremely nice way to spend the last weekend in August or the first week in September, depending on how the calendar falls.
The Festival of the Arts has certainly left its mark on the city throughout the years.
It has given its residents … it has given me … some good memories. Ones which I will always cherish.
And I would like to take a second here and thank the festival's organizers -- those involved with the nonprofit group, Toronto in Focus.
For they are the ones who continue to bring this event to our city.
Each and every year.
Thank you for not giving up on what has become a sense of community for almost half a century.
We appreciate you. And look forward to many more festivals in the future.
(Stenger is the community editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times)