MISSOURI: Montgomery Archives

The Chamber of Commerce briefly discussed the phenomenal AutumnFest success when it met on Thurs., Oct. 6.  Jessica Fischer, who organized the festival, said that there were 40 vendors this year as compared to last year’s 15 or so.  

Fischer told MontgomeryAndMe.com that there were a lot of new features, including the Mid America Raceway reunion, the rib auction, the child car seat safety check by the Health Department, the Idol Competition, the Little Mr. and Ms. contest, and an apple pie contest and auction which raised $308 for the United Way.

Fischer also said there was a nice variety of vendors, who came from places including Montgomery City, Harrisburg, Auxvasse, Wildwood, Hermann, Mexico, New Florence, New Franklin, Booneville, Bellflower, and St. Louis. Their products included Scentsy, Thirty-One, Miche Bags, Pampered Chef, hand-made items, and lots of great food.

There were more people in downtown Montgomery City than anyone could remember seeing in recent history. Montgomery City Chief of Police Phil Ahern said, “There were more people around downtown then there was on fair parade day, which is normally a whole bunch of folks.”

Although there was no way to count the number of people who attended AutumnFest, many people said they thought it was well over a thousand. Despite the large number of people, Ahern said that the police department did not have any trouble. “Nobody got out of hand, everybody had a good time.” Sheriff Bob Davis said he did not have any issues within the county either.

Mobntgomery City Administrator Steve Deves told MontgomeryAndMe.com, “It was awesome. A perfect day, tons of people. We were up there all day working from 7:00 until 5:00 and never had one problem all day. It couldn’t have been better. I had a lot of people tell me it was the best day ever they’ve been in Montgomery City. It was fantastic.”

Reach Community Church had about 20 volunteers who spent their entire day with the children. They had six carnival games and face painting and offered free popcorn and shaved ice. Reach also purchased 150 pumpkins for kids to paint, which were gone by 1 pm.  Pastor Chris Meyer said, "There were double if not triple the number of kids from last year."

Ronnie Moss of Mid America Raceway Park, which had a car show at AutumnFest, said that there were 170 cars that registered to participate in the judging and that the approximate total car count was 412, but people kept coming even in late afternoon. That figure does not include people who came just as spectators.

Moss said, “The racers and spectators kept commenting to me how nice everybody was and it was just a wonderful show. They really enjoyed it. Everybody was just commenting on how wonderful they were treated and how happy and excited they were to be there.”

Steve Brookman of Liquid, which had a large food tent complete with the restaurant's table and chairs, said that they sold about as much at AutumnFest as they do on a typical Friday, which is their busiest night of the week.

Misty Johnson of D'Lish Us said, “Our booth had Frosted Sugar, Pumpkin Nugget, Chocolate Chip, and Millionaire cookies, as well as Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster mini cupcakes. We sold over 400 baked goods and had a wonderful time at our first AutumnFest! “

Jenny Krattli, instructor of the High School Office Technology class which is raising money for The Dolly Parton Imagination Library, said, "The MCHS Hero Night Under the Lights Crew had their first booth at AutumnFest this year, but we couldn't have asked for a better experience! It was well run, organized and well attended! We are very thankful to the volunteers that spent many hours organizing such an awesome event for our community. The ‘crew’ was selling hand painted light bulb ornaments and crocheted scarves. We brought over 140 ornaments with us and went home with 8. It was a very profitable day for our group.”

Scentsy Consultant Melissa Cahall said she had an excellent day as well.  Pampered Chef Consultant Kaley Reagan seems to have summed it up for everyone by saying, “It was a great day all around!”

Fischer said, “Thanks to all of the volunteers and the generous support of the community AutumnFest 2011 was a huge success! I am also very thankful Mother Nature was on our side. We look forward to your continued support in the years to come!”