Peony Fest head enjoying 1st year at helm

CINDY WOOD/independent feature writer

Zoe Longstreth’s kitchen table is a mass of glitter, glue and construction paper these days. For Longstreth, a quality engineer at Braun Industries and this year’s Peony Festival president, it’s crunch time.

The much-beloved hometown event will soon hit the streets of Van Wert, just in time for area peonies to be in full bloom. As with tradition, the festival will take place the first weekend of June and Longstreth is hoping everything goes off without a hitch. “I’m really hoping we have all the rain out of our system by then,” Longstreth said, speaking of the downpours and flooding that have plagued Van Wert over the past month. “I believe we’ve had more than our fair share of that. We’re really hoping we see some sun that weekend.”

Rain or shine, though, Longstreth said the committee will take whatever comes its way that weekend. “We’ll work with whatever we get, and we’re prepared for just about anything,” she said.

That preparation begins as soon as the committee closes the books on the previous year’s festival. This year, Longstreth takes the reigns from Bob and Cheri Exline, who have headed up the Peony Festival for many years. “I’m so fortunate to have the both of them to help me,” Longstreth said, adding that 10-12 other committee members work hard to organize the festival.

“I’m sure we all have each other’s cell numbers programmed into our phones,” Longstreth said with a laugh. “If it’s late at night, and one of us thinks of something, we just call each other until we get it worked out.”

Organizing the festival of this magnitude is a tall order, and becomes even more difficult in a slow economy, Longstreth said, while thanking the loyal festival donors who financially assist each and every year. “Many people don’t realize how expensive it is to put this festival on,” she noted. “Everyone loves seeing the Michigan Soul Steppers in the parade, but they might not know it costs two thousand dollars just to bring that group here.”

Longstreth is hoping that the festival will grow into what it once used to be, when a hundred thousand people flooded the streets of Van Wert to witness the elaborately decorated floats. “What a shot in the arm for Van Wert that would be,” she said, adding that families can partake in many different attractions and activities this year. While peony fest will include many of the events community members have come to love, Longstreth said there are several new activities this year for families to enjoy, including a pet show, and the once-popular fishing derby held at Camp Clay.

The new Peony Festival president admitted that she really didn’t partake in the festival until she accompanied her sister downtown one year. “I couldn’t believe what I had been missing,” she said. “I had so much fun that year, I really wanted to get involved and see where I could help.”

After a conversation with a committee member that year, Longstreth decided to come aboard and join the committee. Soon after, she was asked to step in for the Exlines, who are still involved, but on a smaller scale.

“Bob and Cheri have been leading the parade for so long that they wanted to start stepping down a little bit without being completely out of it,” Longstreth said. “They just wanted to lighten the load a little bit.”

The planning and organization has most definitely called for some late nights in the Longstreth household. “It’s been a really long process pulling it all together,” she said. “I wouldn’t say I’m in panic mode, because I’m lucky to have people that are really good at what they do.”

Activity will begin Friday morning as vendors and crafters begin to set up in downtown Van Wert, as well as at the Van Wert County Fairgrounds, which is host to several activities throughout the weekend, including a burn-out contest and truck and tractor pulls.

“There will be kids rides downtown again, and crafts and vendors, and there’s really just a little bit of something for everyone,” Longstreth said.

The one benefit of the recent monsoon-like weather will be this year’s Garden Tour, which promises to be one of the best. “Oh my, I’m sure this rain will help to make the garden tour something extra special this year,” Longstreth said, adding that the theme of the entire weekend is “Friends and Neighbors,” and she’s hoping the community will embrace the theme and celebrate the people of Van Wert.

The weekend also is the beginning of the 2011 Summer Music Series in Fountain Park. Kicking off the series this year will be the Van-Dells, which take the stage in the park band shell Friday evening. The fishing derby is back this year at Camp Clay, which makes for a nice family event, and the committee has added a pet show that will take place in Fountain Park.

“Again, it comes back to the businesses that are so gracious in sponsoring events for us,” Longstreth said, adding that the committee is looking at different fundraisers throughout the year to help with festival finances.

For now, Longstreth is heading up last-minute details, with some assistance from her grandkids. “My family has been so supportive and my kitchen table right now is just a cluster of everything,” Longstreth said. “We’re making paper peonies right now for the float, and the grandkids are making papier mâché animals. It’s just been a lot of fun for all of us.”

At the end of the day, and by the end of the festival, committee members are just hoping that community members and visitors have enjoyed a fun, summer weekend. “We just want everyone to have a good time, and feel good about something,” she said. “We want to get more people involved, and we’d love to see it get to the point where the peony festival is the main, go-to event of the summer.”

For more information on activities and events, visit the Convention & Visitor’s Bureau website at www.visitvanwert.org.