Montpelier: July 19, 2014 – The Village of Montpelier held their annual Bean Day’s Celebration in the Village July 17 – July 20, with a new addition this year; The 1st Annual Balloon Festival, featuring 10 Hot Air Balloons from Balloonists across Ohio.
The festivities opened officially opened at 5:00 p.m. on July 18th at the Main Street Podium at the corner of Main and Empire Street with words of thanks and appreciation for the tremendous support and turnout by Montpelier Chamber of Commerce President Jeanette Hull, followed by the invocation delivered by Pastor Richard Blank from the St’. Paul’s United Methodist Church. Mayor Steve Yagelski then took the stand and addressed the crowd, expressing a heartfelt thank you to the many in attendance and opening the Montpelier Welcome Mat for the visitors from out of town. “The Village Reporter spoke with Mayor Yagelski before the opening festivities and asked what the Village expected throughout the weekend. Mayor Yagelski stated “Bean Day’s are an opportunity for friends and neighbors to get together and socialize, enjoy the food and entertainment, and the chance to do so is a neat thing for everyone involved. I also want to state what a tremendous job the Planning Committee did in putting together this year’s celebration, they got together a year ago and came up with a lot of fresh ideas and from the scene here this afternoon, it is apparent their planning and professionalism have paid big dividends for this year’s activities and events. “The mayor also commented on the introduction of the 1st Annual Balloon Festival into the celebration and was very excited about the new addition to the Village’s big weekend.
This year’s activities got underway on Thursday, July 17 with a 4-H Chicken BBQ at the Williams County Fairgrounds along with the opening round of the 2014 “Montpelier’s Got Talent Show” at the Main Street Park. The talent show was hosted by the members of the Class of 2016 from Montpelier High school, and Thursday’s opening narrowed the field down to 10 finalists, who were selected to move onto Friday Night’s Finals Competition. (See “The Village Reporters” story on the Friday Night Finals in this edition).
This year’s Bean Day’s Celebration also included several events and competitions, including the long running tradition of “Best Beans” created by local businesses in the Montpelier area. Other competitions included the Montpelier Fire Department Bucket Brigade at the Montpelier Fire Station, held on Friday July 18; The Montpelier Firefighters Association 5K Run/Walk and 1 Mile Kids Fun Run/Walk held at Montpelier High School on Saturday, July 19. Other events included a Car Wash by the “Ugly Veterans” at the Montpelier VFW/legion Building; a Dog Wash held at Maxton Motors sponsored by the Williams County Humane Society and the long running tradition of St. John’s Lutheran Church’s Sausage and Root Beer Float cookout throughout the duration of the festival.
The highlight of the 2014 bean day’s Celebration was the addition of the 1st Annual Balloon festival, held on the North Grounds of the Williams County Fairgrounds. The Balloon Festival kicked off with the inclusion of the 10 participating balloonists attaching their burners and joining the opening ceremonies on Friday afternoon. Led by Montpelier’s Greg Lee, the pilot and crews did a drive through along Main Street and “fired em up” for the Montpelier crowd, the burners bellowing flames along with the familiar blast of hot air from the propane burners. Once the opening ceremony was complete, each balloonist then proceeded to the fairgrounds, assembled their balloons and awaited the arrival of spectators. The highlight on July 18 after dark was the “Balloon Lighting Ceremony” held after dark. With the balloons fully inflated and on a straight line, the pilots “lit em up” firing the burners and provided a spectacular show! Judging by the crowd’s reaction, this was clearly the highlight of the evening. The 10 balloonists also participated in the 2014 Bean Day’s Parade on July 19, dazzling the crowd along the parade route with their blasts of fire and heat. Many in attendance spoke very favorably about the Balloon Festival becoming an annual event here in Montpelier.
Closing out the 2014 Annual Bean Day Celebration on July 20 was the “Pathways to Beauty” Garden Walk sponsored by the Montpelier Vintage Homes Association. With the closing of scheduled events on Sunday, July 20, the Montpelier Chamber of Commerce wrapped up what appeared to be a wildly successful weekend of fun and entertainment across the Village of Montpelier.
