Dogwood Festival vendors persevere despite flooding
■ The Chamber staff helped relocate several booths throughout the weekend.
Despite severe thunderstorms and flooding on Friday and Saturday, the Dogwood Festival showed resilience.
About 80 vendors — slightly more than half of those who started the festival — decided to persist through the weather, according to Mary Fears, director of operations for the chamber of commerce. They were rewarded with pleasant weather on Sunday and a steady crowd. Food vendors stayed open throughout the festival and customers continued to trickle in even during the heaviest storms on Saturday.
After pleasant weather on Friday, storms with heavy winds hit the area during the early hours of Saturday morning. The winds blew over seven or eight craft vendor tents, Fears said. Chamber staff immediately called craft vendors and helped them set their tents back up and secure their merchandise. Only one tent and all of its contents were a total loss, Fears said.
More rain hit on Saturday and Sager Creek nearly raged out of its banks in both City Park and Bob Henry Park. The water in the creek was only a few feet below the bridge on University Street and the walking bridges in both parks. It spilled over the one-way bridge on North Maple Street. Once again, Chamber staff helped vendors move the tents and booths that were close to the creek banks to higher ground.
The entertainment schedules on Friday and Sunday proceeded as planned, but the performance by Josh Hoyer and his band Soul Colossal had to be canceled on Saturday afternoon because of the weather, according to Nathaniel Stone, entertainment coordinator for the festival. The band loved Siloam Springs and is already booked for next year, he said.
Dawn Horton of Dwight Mission, Okla., who sells custom jewelry, said her booth had to be moved three times because
of the weather. The tent, which was originally located next to Sager Creek, was knocked over by wind during the early hours of Saturday morning.
She received a call about 4 a.m. informing her of the damage. Chamber staff helped her set her tent back up, and helped her move the booth to higher ground two more times before the festival was over.
Horton said she travels to festivals every weekend, but had never been to the Dogwood Festival before. Despite her experience with the weather she plans to come back next year.
“The staff over this festival have been the most caring and shown the most hospitality we’ve ever had,” she said.
Fears said that safety was the primary concern when making decisions.
The staff over this festival have been the most caring and shown the most hospitality we’ve ever had. Dawn Horton Craft vendor from Dwight Mission, Okla.
The second concern was making sure that vendors did not lose any of their wares.
“For as bad as (the weather) has been, we could not ask for a better situation,” Fears said. “It was quite the experience but we’ve been blessed.”
Rotten Roger, owner of Rotten Roger’s Guitars, sold two guitars on Saturday, even though he had to take a break to evacuate his tent, located on the banks of Sager Creek, and move to higher ground.
Roger has been bringing his musical instruments, made out of vintage boxes and sometimes even bed pans, to the Dogwood Festival for several years. He already has plans to return next year. “I like this area,” Roger said, “People are friendly although the weather is not so great this year.”