Many of the same faces show up for the Big Apple year after year. And then changes come. A few of the regulars died since last year.  Others, when you see em on Main Street or on Courthouse Square, they've aged. Some on walkers while others are in wheel chairs. This aging thing is cruel.
  For 2019, the weather could not have cooperated any better. Humidity was very low.  Never a drop of rain in 2019. The sky was overcast Saturday helping to beat back the sun
  The tiny team of volunteers spent 11 months pulling everything together. It's a Herculean task to say the least.  The results of their effort, a great party and homecoming for many.   There have been times in the past when things went sour real quick. For instance...
  Not so long ago we had a Sheriff who decided to show his arss and hold up the entire parade because one motorcyclist was doing a burnout on Main Street. Instead of removing the one offender, the Top Badge wanted to be the center of attention and held up the Grand Parade for the hundreds of spectators.
  There was the year when local hoodlums decided to bust out many windshields on Back Street. One year tires were slashed. Another year, concessionaires were selling blow dart guns. The ammo was easily converted with a needle  protruding. Kids turned side streets into war games. Fortunately, no one was injured that year.
  Maybe 10 or 12 years ago, it rained so hard on Saturday, the street gutters filled with ankle deep wawa. With all the electrical hook ups running in the gutters, we got lucky. No one was electrocuted. How bad was it? The parade was delayed one day.  Fortunately, that Sunday afternoon was picture perfect and everything came off without a hitch.
  In 2019 there were some accidents. One lady fell and injured her hip. There was a cardio episode at the Courthouse. Both of those were on Saturday Sept 21st. On Friday, another call for an ambulance came.
  As far as fights, drugs, confrontations, we didn't hear of any via the scanner.   Events came off on time. The filler events like corn hole, baking contests, and quilting competition,  there were many participants in 2019.
  The number of vendors at roadside, that number stayed about the same as last year. Considering the recession we've been in since Dubbya's Great Recession of 2008, it's amazing so many hawkers came out to Clayberry. One new hawker was the CHS concession trailer manned by students. For pretty much all day Friday and Saturday, the waiting line snaked down Main Street without an end in sight.
  The Festival is really a money making time for many local non profit groups. For many, most, sales from their concessions provide the operation money needed to make thru another year.
  There was concern over our many street people mixing in or not mixing in with the masses. No problems that we heard about.
  Who ever handles renting the Rite Aid parking lot during the Festival, they always catch double H. For the last several festivals, CDC (now CSCS) have used that lot as a fund raiser for their operation. In 2019, CSCS was unable to find enough workers to handle those duties. This year, Rite Aid (now a Wallgreens really) used their parking lot as fundraiser for their own charity efforts.
  A couple of weeks before the Apple, word spread that the feature band, Confederate Railroad, had had some of their shows canceled due to their use of the Rebel flag in the band's logo and their very name. Social media was lit up with: a bunch of protesters were coming to raise H. No protesters were in attendance or none raised their placards if they were there.
  Costing several thousand dollars, the Confederate RR band put on one whale of a show. From the time they took the stage (on time too), you could see the difference. It was obvious. They were pros and had a handle on keeping things moving along. Having several recognizable hits under their belts didn't hurt anything either. That performance ended way before the fireworks display. That 25 minute or so of dead air was a real glitch.
  We may have seen the largest attendance on record for an Apple show. The place was packed. We certainly saw the most dancers and sing alongs from the audience. It may have been a little too large. During the Confederate Railroad show, spectators overflowed onto Main Street blocking nearly one full lane of traffic. We didn't see any Badges monitoring that issue.
   For 2019, the Grand Parade lasted right at 60 minutes. Often the classic show cars and motorcycles shy away from the parade. Not so this year. Beautiful wheels rolled down Main Street. Little kids and parents alike, picked up about a gazillion calories worth of candy which was thrown from the participants.
  On the down side, a couple things...
  The tradition has been to have a CHS art display inside the Courthouse followed by a public auction out on Courthouse Square. IT was always good publicity for the kids and a way to earn some $$$. This year, with a new teacher in charge, there was no Courthouse based art show or auction. In its place was a sign reading, we're doing the auction on Facebook. So much for good pr.
  Something else we missed. For years, the Metropolitan Band from the Kanawha Valley  provided Saturday morning performances plus marched and played in the parade. They adult group made great music and were professional in all respects. Sure missed them this year.
  Only the CHS band participated in this year's Big Apple
  There is some possible real bad news for us pulled pork barbecue consumers. Located right beside the Courthouse, Carl and Marsha Apline's Rolling Thunder concession is backed up deep with us trying to get our annual ration of goodness. Mr Apline told us, he plans to retire from the business and sell it off. For many, that BBQ goodness is a big reason for coming downtown during the Fest.
  Parents brought their rug rats to the fest and bought bought and then bought some more. Every snot licker had one of those blow up toys, something to eat / drink, and whirls down at the Carnival. Not sure how this cash strapped place managed to do that but we have a guess. Instead of paying wawa, electric, phone bills, those invoices will have to wait a month.
  Finally, we saw the passing of the guard. For decades, the same faces handled the Apple organization. Aging forced many to retire from volunteer duties. Beginning last year, new faces were at the helm with every committee. Those younger volunteers have more energy and new ideas at the ready.
   In 2019, at least from the outside looking in, everything came off , mostly on time and without a hitch. One big happy face for the volunteer effort.
   It's over. We're now officially ready for Fall and then cold weather.   AW