A glimpse into the soul of the community

Let's be perfectly clear --- most of the 'stumbles' associated with TR have been self-inflicted by those in charge at the time, attempting to change a particular aspect of the event.

Pushing the carnival out of downtown is just one example. Another would be changing the makeup of the 3rd Street booths, that left little interest for many.

Remember the ironically named 'Who's on 3rd', and the answer was very few? Sometime before that, some genius proposed changing the name to 'The Hazelnut Festival'. Really?

TR cannot be successful without filling 3rd with boots of all sorts. The MDA and Chamber would be wise to listen to the attendees, present and former, instead of attempting to highlight the special interests of a select few.

"....instead of attempting to highlight the special interests of a select few."

Don,

If you're referring to the 'not in my front yard' set, Jeb wrote an interesting piece concerning the 'not in my back yard' crowd, and progress, which I guess if you stared at it long enough, his use of the word, evolve, kinda works.

Again, that's if you stare at it long enough.

Actually, Mike, I was referring to those who see it a necessity 'to fix what ain't broken' --- or change the 'theme' or 'atmosphere' to suit a small minority. The changes listed were example of such 'tinkering'.

TR has been better, much better. Hey, if the majority of the downtown merchants are fed up with the event at their door, move the whole thing to another section of the city. Any surface street can be closed, so 3rd isn't the only choice.