There were many changes, from the location all the way to entertainment but the Denver Lake Norman Rotary Club, in their second year operating the Denver Days Fall Festival, worked with each change and put forth the effort so everyone in attendance was happy! The past three years have been rainy, and although God chose to send some cool and windy conditions, the weather was not wet and the crowds came!
The biggest change was a change in location, back to the site where Denver Days began in 2003. Thanks to the kindness of Dwight and Kay Callaway, Denver Days was held in “Downtown Denver” again, at the corner of Business Highway 16 and St. James Church Road. The corner location worked perfectly, with plenty of room for rides, entertainment, food and the business and craft vendors.
Wednesday and Thursday nights, our school age kids could ride all night for one low price, and from the looks of the parking lot, there were a lot of families that took advantage of the discounts! Thursday afternoon was a very special time for the “Special Needs Kids Day” at Denver Days and from 1 to 3, our special kids and their families had the Denver Days grounds all to themselves. No crowds, no lines but the rides were open, cotton candy, popcorn and ice cream was available and from being there and being part, this was truly a special time at Denver Days.
On Friday, the food vendors and our businesses and craft vendors moved in and filled up the space, making Denver Days another little town in Lincoln County. We also had a dunking booth, raising money for charity and our own Sheriff, David Carpenter was seen splashing when he was dropped! The weather Friday night was cool and the wind was breezy, but the crowds came. The 2011 edition of Denver Days did not have the “name” bands but we were entertained by both the Tim Clark Band and Little Johnny Trailer Trash, with music playing from 6 to 10.
Saturday morning, Denver Days expanded when the Farmers Market opened, and more vendors moved in for the days. Entertainment started off with our county fire departments having a competition, then exhibitions by local karate and martial-arts schools, dance studios and local bands. Denver’s Got Talent opened at 4 PM with the six finalists taking the stage, and our winner chosen by the crowd and judges by 6 PM. Many thanks to our judges: Paul Silas, coach of the Bobcats, Eddie Knox of The Knox Law Firm and Verdict Ridge and Rhonda Harrill, principal of Rock Springs Elementary. The competition was good and a huge applause greeted the winner, M.J. Milam. His dance rendition of “Thriller” by Michael Jackson was something to see!
Saturday continued with more music, more food, more rides, more dunking booth and more and more Denver Days, until we closed out this year’s event at 11 PM. The Denver Lake Norman Rotary Club has completed the second year of being responsible for Denver Days but are not resting; the first meeting of the 2012 edition of Denver Days is set for Friday morning, October 14th. The club will analyze what should start for next year, what should stop and what should continue, and the work will continue until Denver Days 2012.
The Rotary Club wants to extend a huge THANK YOU to the Denver and surrounding communities for making Denver Days a reality from year to year. Your coming out and supporting this community event is what keeps it successful from year to year. The overall objective from Denver Days is to build the “East Lincoln Rescue Park” and we look for that to be a reality in the next coming years.
