The Fifth Annual Shepherdstown Street Fest was a blast! On behalf of the Street Fest Committee, I would like to thank the people of Shepherdstown for joining us on German Street for a truly wonderful day we do it all for you, our friends and neighbors, and we had a great time! Of course, we didn’t do this alone during these challenging economic times we found sponsors who still believe that community comes first: Platinum sponsors Frontier Communications, The Journal & Chronicle newspapers, and Panhandle Public Affairs; Gold Sponsor Smallwood & Small Insurance; Silver Sponsors BB&T Bank, The Contemporary American Theater Festival, Historic Shepherdstown, Jefferson Security Bank, Natelco Electric, and Yuengling Beer; and Friends The Country Day School and Skinner Law Firm. It’s worth saying again, that these businesses stepped forward during these challenging days to help give you the Street Fest you deserve they deserve our support in turn. Needless to say, we want to thank Mayor Auxer and the employees of the Corporation of Shepherdstown for their gracious help, including the Chief and his officers, as well as Frank Welch and Kenny Shipley and his team.

Ultimately, however, it was a handful of people who, through passion and perseverance, put the nuts and bolts together and created Street Fest 2009. Folks like Denny Crosby, our “go-to guy” for stage, sound, and music (not to mention fantastic photos); Martha Frase, who brought Yuengling beer to Shepherdstown (this was the first festival in West Virginia at which Yuengling was sold on tap); Ken Kennedy, who was everywhere on the day of Street Fest, doing whatever needed to be done when it needed to be done; Heather Marshall, who coordinated with The Country Day School to ensure children enjoyed Street Fest as much as the adults; and Peg McKowen, who, in the middle of preparing for a new season of CATF, lined up sponsors, guided vendors to their spaces, arranged entertainers, and poured beer above and beyond!

Even this talented crew wasn’t enough to pull off Street Fest, prior to the event Tyler Oyler and Patience Wait of Panhandle Public Affairs helped us get the word out via the print media and the internet (check out our Facebook page!); Jim Ford helped keep our website up to speed; and we relied on Jim Auxer, Cindy Balshaw, John Baumgartner, Brenda Derr, Natalie Hoffman, Peter Wilson, and a collection of fabulous Finns and their friends for help pouring beer and cleaning up during and after the event.

It was a great day, with our own unique business sharing the street with 50+ diverse and exciting vendors, five fantastic bands, and thousands of people having a great time in Shepherdstown. And, in the aftermath of that wonderful day, we’ll do our best to share the Street Fest spirit by donating our profits to two local charities: Good Shepherd Caregivers and the Jefferson County Community Ministries Food Bank.

Standing on the stage at the end of the day, I saw my friends and neighbors dancing, smiling, and laughing I know I speak for the entire Committee when I say that scene made all the hard work worth it.

See You on German Street,

Donn Marshall