By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
Thursday was simply beautiful for the opening night of the 2015 Harvest Festival, from the late summer weather right up on the stage for the Queen’s Pageant. The 2015 Crestline Harvest Festival has a new queen in Colonel Crawford’s Kerri Reynolds who was crowned from the field of 13.
Reynolds explained what it felt like winning the crown and that the 2014 Harvest Festival Queen Desiree Sharp nudged her into participating.
“It is definitely exciting, it was a nerve-racking experience going into it, wasn’t sure,” Reynolds said. “Last year’s queen talked me into doing it this year, and now I’m definitely glad that she did.”
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Reynolds explained that waiting was the most difficult portion of the pageant.
“The waiting, that was the most nerve-racking, sitting up there waiting for the judges, not a fun time, but definitely worth the wait,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds explained that the fried food was her favorite part of the festival.
Destinee Hunt of Crestline High School finished as first runner-up and Allison Lawson was named Ms. Congeniality.
In its fourth year back, the Crestline Harvest Festival opened the 42nd Harvest Festival with council member Clayton Herold welcoming the crowd.
Herold explained why the Harvest Festival started at a later time than the previous years.
“We kind of bumped our opening ceremony and the Queen’s Pageant to later to allow family and friends to get off work and to get here for it,” Herold said. “Before it was kind of around the 5 o’clock time frame, and it was just kind of hard for friends and family to get out and see the kids on stage.”
The 2015 Harvest Festival features numerous local vendors including stands for the Crestline Bulldogs, the Crestline Lion’s Club, and Robert Kurtzman’s Mad F.X. Lab. Samantha Otten explained what the Mad F.X. Lab booth would be doing during the duration of the festival.
“We are holding a mask raffle, as well as have a few masks for sale,” Otten said. “We are also passing out ads for the Mad F.X. Lab and the V.I.P. night, and a few of us will be participating in the parade on Saturday.”
The Crestline Harvest Festival also features food vendors serving up the fried fair food that is a favorite of many.
Another aspect of the Harvest Festival is to return to their home town and visit with family and friends. Heather, Miranda, and Savannah Mathews were leaving the event and explained their favorite experience of the 2015 Harvest Festival.
“I’ve been coming here for years,” Heather said. “I enjoyed visiting with family the most since we no longer live around here.”
“Being with family and friends was my favorite,” Savannah said.
“I enjoyed the rides,” Miranda added.
For the second straight year Kissel Amusements are providing rides for the Harvest Festival.
The opening night of the 2015 Crestline Harvest Festival featured the Crestline School show choir, the Royal Blue Express, before the Queen’s Pageant, and while the judges voted on the queen. At 9 p.m. the Pioneer Performing Arts Academy performed on the main stage. Brian Houck performed from 9- 11 p.m. in the beer garden.
The Harvest Festival runs from noon until midnight on Friday and features the Crestline Patio Gardener’s Club Horticulture Show at 4 p.m. as well as performances by three bands. The Martini Affair will play the main stage from 5-7 p.m. Classic rock band After Midnight will play before midnight with a set time from 9-11 p.m. on the main stage. From 9 p.m.-12 a.m. Three Minute Echo will perform in the beer garden.
At 9 a.m. Saturday the Crestline Harvest Festival opens with the Crestline Police Department Car Show, and the Farmer’s Market and Craft Show. The Harvest Festival Parade will take place at 3:30 Saturday afternoon. Saturday will also feature a variety of contests on the main stage starting at 10 a.m. with a pigtail/ponytail contest, a pizza eating contest at 11 a.m., and a wing eating contest at noon. The final day of the festival will also feature main stage performances by the Jai Barker Band from 6-8 p.m. and Jesse Brown from 9-11 p.m. From 9 p.m.-12 a.m. Slap Shot Sammy featuring Jon Gray will perform the Beer Garden.
For more information on the Crestline Harvest Festival visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CrestlineHarvestFestival or their website at http://crestlineoh.com/news-events/harvest-festival.