On behalf of RiverArts, thank you to everyone that supported the first RiverFest. It was an amazing day, and an amazing testament to our community. We are so grateful to everyone that made the day possible. We thank especially our partners, Washington College’s Center for Environment and Society, and SANDBOX. We also thank Kent County Office of Emergency Management, local emergency services and the Amateur Radio Society for the time and effort they put into safety planning for the day and logistical support, which was no small task. We also thank the organizing committee who spent countless hours meeting, planning and executing the event.
We thank Vicco and Jacqui Von Voss for their artistic vision and leadership in creating the RiverFest sculpture “Sankalpa.” What an amazing vision they had! We also thank Zane Carter, who came up with the idea for RiverFest as a way to celebrate our community, arts, and waterfront.
We had a great deal of technical and volunteer support from the community for which we are grateful. Ed Minch provided the electrical engineering for the sculpture. John Spetrino of FK production provided structural engineering, metal fabrication and flotation development. Smantha Hollomon LaFleur of LaFleur Associates created the wonderful lighting design. Duncan Welsh donated his time and talent to safely lay the anchors for the sculpture. We also thank the volunteers that helped to construct the sculpture over 8 weekends leading up to the event including Thom Sinnott, Tom Lentell, Bill Ghio, Hunter Mumma, and Chuck Engstrom. Additional support was provided by Ben Armiger, Brian Toth, Michael Jenson of Unity Landscaping, Pete Battcock, Austin Reed, Johnston Fortenbaum, Paul Malley, Gary Moll, Jack Brossius, and Washington College student volunteers.
We thank Dr. Ken Schweitzer and the Washington College Afro-Cuban Ensemble, Meredith Davies Hadaway, and Dr. Keith Wharton and the Eastern Shore Wind Ensemble for performing at the ceremony. Thank you to Philip Dutton and the Alligators for their wonderful music at the reception and to Andy and Leslie Price who sponsored the evening’s festivities.
We thank the artists, non-profits, and exhibitors that were present in Wilmer Park sharing with the community. We thank the volunteers that staffed so many of our booths and activities including KidSPOT and our set up crew that made sure the park was ready for visitors and cleaned up at the end of the day. We thank our vendors who brought great food to the park and to JR’s for catering the High Street reception.
Even though the weather conditions did not allow for our kayak and canoe races to happen, we thank the Chestertown Yacht and Country Club for providing chase boats to ensure water safety and for the time they put in on planning. We also thank Chesapeake Bank and Trust for sponsoring the races. We thank the Chester River Rowing Club for the time and effort that went into planning an exhibition row.
We especially thank RiverArts members who came out in droves to volunteer with planning, coordinating the day and staffing the event. So many of our folks were working behind the scenes keeping things running smoothly, and making sure the event went well. We could not have accomplished all that we did without you.
We also thank the mayor, town council and the Town of Chestertown and Kent County Tourism office for supporting the event. And finally, thank you to everyone that came out to support RiverFest. We appreciated seeing so many in the community and from beyond come out to Wilmer Park and to the High Street reception to take part in the festivities. We hope you enjoyed the day. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Jodi Bortz
Executive Director
Chestertown RiverArts
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