SHARON Buhl Day event was a success, leaders say

Most activities occurred as planned.
SHARON, Pa. -- Organizers called Monday's annual Buhl Day festival a success despite the intermittent rain that caused lower-than-usual attendance.
"I think it's a success because it brought the community together again," said Carol Simon, treasurer of the Buhl Day committee and co-chairwoman of this year's event. The event, which normally draws 20,000 to 30,000 people, attracted between 5,000 and 10,000 this year as people came and went throughout the day, she said.
"Considering how grim [the weather] was, I believe people had a good time," said Carole Dunkerley, director of programs and activities for Buhl Farm Park, where the annual Labor Day event is based.
There was no lightning and thunder, but a heavy downpour began around 7 p.m. as the festival was ending.
Most activities occurred as planned. Musicians, sheltered by the park's band shell (known as the performing arts center), played for sparse, but appreciative umbrella-toting audiences. The Buhl Mermaids, a synchronized swimming group, took to the park pool as usual.
Other activities
The climbing wall, inflatable slide and bounce house for children operated as usual; the 5-kilometer run from Kerrwood Drive to the park was held as planned; food vendors in the park continued to serve participants; and the art show went on as scheduled inside the park's activities center.
Good crowds watched the parade, from Hermitage Towne Plaza to the park, which featured floats and police and fire vehicles. High school marching bands did not participate to avoid getting their instruments wet, Dunkerley said.
Some children's activities and games, normally held outdoors, were moved to a porch of the park's casino; and some grass parking lots had to be closed to keep vehicles from becoming stuck in the mud, Dunkerley said. It was only the third rainy Buhl Day in the event's 24-year history, she said.
Buhl Day will return next year for its 25th anniversary celebration, for which fireworks are planned, but whether it continues after that will depend on having enough new donors, volunteers and activity chairmen, Dunkerley said.