Sad Day in Walkerville; Art in the Park Floods; Rotary Proud of Saturday’s Success

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Storms and heavy rains overnight brought buckets of tears to Art in the Park in Walkerville on Sunday, but the Rotary Club of Windsor was proud of Saturday’s successes and promised to make 2011’s ‘Park an even bigger and better event.

Gilbert VandenHeuvel, owner of Goderich company The Recycler which transforms old bicycles into unique furniture and decoration items, came to the park early this morning to get ready for another day of sales, only to find his tent crushed by heavy rains, and the ground under his displays puddling with water.

At the south end of the park in the marquis tent, a nearby exhibitor who was loading his van, described how another exhibitor lost a number of teddy bears when the tent flooded overnight.  Vans and trucks filled the park by mid-morning as artists scrambled to salvage their goods from pools of water.

The north end of Willistead Park was high and dry, but an official cancellation saw even read-to-open exhibitors closing up shop.

Art in the Park was expected to fetch over 10,000 visitors on Sunday.  The highly successful music area, organized by the Windsor Federation of Musicians was to present Jazz Day this afternoon, but as of 11am, parts of the stage were being torn down, and sound equipment was shuttled into nearby trucks.

The Rotary Club of Windsor issued a statement on Art in the Park’s website thanking exhibitors, volunteers and musicians for their participation on Saturday, and cited an incredibly successful attendance of 13,000+.  Word from Rotary Volunteers, being passed around the park, indicated that Exhibitors would be compensated with free or highly discounted booth rentals during next June’s event.