DEXTER, New York (WWNY) – A strong community is practically a necessity for a good festival.
Otherwise you could see vendors with no buyers, food trucks with no eaters, carnival rides without riders or soap box races without racers.
Luckily for General Brown’s Weekend Festival, a strong community has never been an issue.
“We knew that the people of this area were going to come out,” said President of the General Brown Weekend Committee Dan Conner. “It’s one of these- it’s been a staple of this community for decades.
And that held true even as the venue of General Brown’s festival had to change this year.
Normally held in Brownville, the venue was moved to Dexter as Brownville finishes on-going water infrastructure work.
A yearly vendor at the festival tells us that didn’t change the size of the crowds one bit this weekend.
“I think we’re going to be up a little bit this year from last year so, we had a great weekend,” said Shanie Strife, owner of Sticky Dicks Honey Products. “I know everything was a little different this year with a change in venue but we were just as successful as we always are.”
Organizers say this wouldn’t be possible without volunteers, several of which this year were like Gabriela Ashley, students at General Brown High School who were glad to help lift up the community staple they’ve been coming to for years.
“Since I’ve been coming for so long it’s nice to actually help and do stuff around here,” said Ashley. “There were so many people because of the parade and fireworks yesterday so it was definitely really like crazy.”
Organizers say they only keep enough money to put another festival on next year, and the rest goes to benefit local kids, groups, and other community projects.
General Brown’s Weekend Committee President adds why he thinks this weekend is so special.
“I have a teenage daughter running around here just like I was 30 years ago,” said Conner. “It just like- the generations before. It’s got a little history to it and this is one thing we can all have in common with our kids.”
This year’s festivities ended Sunday, a successful year due largely to this strong community.
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