Hometown Festivals 

Katelin: My daughter's last parade of the season was my favorite because we were at our Hometown Festival. The Oatka Festival has been held in LeRoy, NY for the past 35 years. There are a few foundational events that you can count on for fun every year such as the Sunday car show, open admission to the Jello Museum, and of course the parade that kicks off the weekend. This festival is special because it holds so many memories of my kids, and I have enjoyed seeing them grow up.  The car show has risen in appeal as my son has grown older, and I have watched my daughter’s love of face paint grow into a love of henna tattoos at festivals. This year? She chose a snake tattoo up her arm in honor of the new Hunger Games book that was released this year.  

Valerie, you have some hometown festivals and events too. I am curious how our hometowns might do things similarly or if the highlights are totally different.  

Valerie: While cruise nights are a Thursday night staple in Akron, NY, we skip it on the 4th of July in favor of making room for the Power Wheels race followed by the Soap Box Derby. No doubt, the same adults that come to admire the Camaros, Jeeps, and John Deere tractors on the other weeks of summer are the same adults who cheer on their littles during the 4th festivities!  The tiny tots in their Power Wheels racing down Main Street filled me with glee. Especially the little girl who managed to drive hers into the curb; she made me think of my childhood driving skills. Then the slightly bigger littles piled into their handmade soap box beauties. Of course, the ones that appeared to be made from store-bought kits won the ribbons for fastest racers, but my heart was delighted by the creative vehicles constructed from items such as planks, old tractor seats, or a 50-gallon barrel. My favorite was a tiny UFO skittering down the road. 

Did you enjoy any creative delights at Oatka, Kate? 

Katelin: Power Wheels racing and Soap Box Derby sound like they would draw a crowd! I am enjoying continued creative delights from the Oatka!  A new vendor for the Oatka Festival was Dirty Fizz Soda Shop a pop-up vendor with their roots in our hometown. Per my daughter, this was the perfect vendor for a hot weekend. She wasn’t wrong, there was a heat advisory for Saturday, and a special fizzy drink was the best protection!  The concept of dirty soda is born from folks wanting a special drink that has zero alcohol, and the treat factor is real!   While I enjoyed “Pink Stardust” and “Oatka Sunrise” my daughter was all about the create your own option. Start with your favorite soda pop, add some extra special flavorings and a cream and voila dirty soda!  But what has made this extra memorable is that my kids have joined forces to create their own dirty sodas at home!  I have gotten some really amazing homemade treats and a few questionable ones (exactly how much coconut cream did you add to this one?)  Did you have a favorite vendor this year?  

Valerie: Now I’ve got the giggles over the homemade concoctions! That’s fantastic that the fascination continued at home! In Akron, I loved our traditional Chiavetta’s chicken BBQ at noon, which raises funds for our local library. But we stayed in town so long, we treated ourselves to a second snack. My Bearded Companion and I split an Indian Taco. It’s a Native American festival favorite: tasty taco toppings crowning a huge, round frybread. The frybread is both the fluffiest and the crispiest treat in which I have ever indulged.  

What was your favorite feature of your parade? I’m always a fan of the marching bands and the bagpipes (best enjoyed outdoors!) But the most unique truck in Akron belongs to Perry’s Ice Cream. They actually hand out ice cream sandwiches!  

Katelin: Frybread sounds wonderful and must have been extra special covered in tasty toppings! I enjoy the parades for the music, particularly the tuba players!  Second to the music I always enjoy these mini cars zipping around. I think they are called Shriners and these older fellas look so happy zipping around in these mini cars it makes me smile for their joy.   

I love that the chicken BBQ benefits the library! I often think of festivals as limited to crafts, games, and food but more recently I have been enjoying books and writer booths. I was excited to meet one of the writers of the LeRoy Weekend Gazette who had a booth to advertise as well as visiting local author David Neth’s booth, too. He had beautiful new hard covers of his books that I purchased at a previous Oatka festival! Have you seen many authors have a booth at festival?  One tip I’ll share from an observation is that David had to make a quick getaway of his books into a protected area when a short but heavy rain started!   I'm so glad he was prepared to cover his books!  

Valerie: Kate, you are an author magnet! I love how you meet them wherever you roam! I met no authors, but on my visit to Akron’s Knight-Sutton Historical Museum, I spotted some fabulous documents that I intend to direct library patrons toward, including a write-up of the history of Murder Creek! Just down the street from the Museum, I also visited the Rich-Twinn Octagon House. I had been right in the middle of rereading Pride and Prejudice, and although that’s a bit older than Akron’s 1849 treasure, I enjoyed imagining the Octagon House as Netherfield, with all its opportunities for fine dining, live music, or retiring with a book away from the noisy card players. Tell us about the historical treasures of LeRoy! 

Katelin: I love when you can make connections between the book you're reading and places you have been to. Even if it's a little bit of a jump and a dash of imagination to make it work, I love feeling like I am in a story.  LeRoy has great history. The Oatka festival always has several JELL-O themed items and fun because we are the hometown of the invention JELL-O (it cracks me up that JELL-O is classified as an invention). Admission to the JELL-O museum is free during the festival and on the really hot years it's a cool place to walk around and take in some whimsical history.  I wonder if anyone ever ate JELL-O in Akron’s Rich-Twinn Octagon House?  It was a little hot during our festival, so I was thankful for some action to watch. There was a hilarious dunk tank that was very busy.  I think they let folks stand a little too close to throw the softball at the target because someone splashed down into the tank every few minutes.  Was there any action to watch in Akron? 

Valerie: I don’t think the dunkee would be disappointed on such a sweltering day! We set up our chairs under a shady chestnut tree to watch the Smoke Dancers perform. In gorgeous costumes, the Native American dancers demonstrated traditional moves. My favorite was a dance that depicted a river crossing, with nimble dancers moving backward to represent riding in a canoe. 

Are you looking forward to a winter festival in LeRoy? We’ll have Light Up Akron, right before Christmas, with horse and carriage rides, fire barrels, and cocoa at every moonlight shopping stop in the business district. 

Katelin: Yes! I love the winter festival in LeRoy too!  Ours is earlier in December and generally has a scavenger hunt or walk around bingo type of game so you get in all the little shops and get some Christmas shopping done while you enjoy cookies and hot chocolate.   A horse and carriage ride sounds memorable and special. We might have to journey out to Akron to see the Lights and enjoy a ride.