GREENFIELD — Its sights, sounds and smiles become familiar as the years pass and traditions take hold. Everyone has a favorite booth, a favorite food they’re sure to grab as a snack, a performance they know they’ll want to catch. But every Riley Festival is special in its own way, locals know. There is always something new to discover.
Thousands once again crowded the corner of State and Main streets in Greenfield over the weekend for the 2018 Riley Festival, enjoying the warm weather and all their festival favorites, from live entertainment to the annual parade through downtown Greenfield.
The event celebrates Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley, who grew up in Greenfield just a block from where the festival sets up hundreds of vendor booths each October. Here’s some snapshots of special moments from over the weekend:
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Crafty legacies
Brigitte Raven knits, crochets, paints, bakes — pretty much anything with her hands.
“I’m an overall crafter,” Raven said.
For each Riley Festival, Raven said she makes something different for the home arts and quilt exhibits — a staple of the four-day festival that draws creators from all around.
This year, Raven baked German Linzer cookies, folded an old handkerchief into a dress as recycled art, crafted a paper star and designed a Christmas picture and frame, she said.
She’s been crafty since a child and has been a member of the county’s You and I Homemakers Club for 20 years. She also volunteers during the Riley Festival at the home arts exhibit, answering questions and showing off people’s work while selling homemade pies at the homemaker’s pie booth.
“I enjoy just working and interacting with people. I like to talk,” Raven said.
The home and quilt exhibits accompanied the photography display in the Courthouse Annex. Brad Brown, a New Palestine resident, has been submitting photos to the festival for six years now and has volunteered at the past four festivals. Brown mainly captures nature images; this year, he entered photos of sunflowers, a rabbit and a squirrel. Photography has been a hobby of his since high school.
“You just see something out of the corner of your eye and think, hey, that would be a neat photo,” Brown said. “Sometimes it pans out, other times it doesn’t.”
History lessons
For a moment, it was like stepping back in time.
Chadwick Gillenwater, a James Whitcomb Riley impersonator, dressed in a top hat and blue cravat, his tuxedo jacket adorned with a giant red carnation, stood on stage in the garden of the James Whitcomb Riley Boyhood Home and Museum.
On Sunday, Riley’s 169th birthday, the Riley Old Home Society celebrated with cake and punch, a longstanding tradition. The Greenfield Community Choir sang a variety of tunes, including “Happy Birthday,” to the Hoosier poet, who lived from 1849 to 1916.
Gillenwater-as-Riley took the stage, remarking on the microphone and giving a lively recitation of some of Riley’s most famous poems, including “When the Frost is on the Punkin,” and “On the Sunny Side.” He led the crowd in a call-and-response, inviting them to join him in saying the last phrase of a stanza repeated throughout the poem, a device Riley often used in his writings.
A former librarian turned creative writing instructor, Gillenwater described the Hoosier dialect Riley used in his works, which he said is what put Riley on the literary map.
He gave an idea of the influence of Riley’s work, especially the poem “Little Orphant Annie,” which inspired a variety of later works, including “Raggedy Ann and Andy” dolls and the musical “Annie.”
The poem itself was inspired by a real girl, Mary Alice “Allie” Smith, who lived with Riley’s family and was known for telling spooky tales like those within Riley’s poem. Gillenwater said an editor changed the poem from “Little Orphant Allie” to “Little Orphant Annie.”
Stacey Poe, director of the boyhood home, said Gillenwater portrays a younger Riley than most people expect, but he has been embraced by the community nonetheless, especially when he was passing out candy during the annual Riley Festival Parade on Saturday.
Furry friends not forgotten
Hundreds meander around downtown Greenfield each year to enjoy all the Riley Festival has to offer. But while these visitors can enjoy grazing on a variety of options offered the event’s booths and food trucks, certain four-legged guests are regularly denied a taste of that steak shish kabob or pineapple whip ice cream.
The dogs taken on strolls through the festival’s grounds every year are often left feeling hungry and forgotten; but Happy Mutt Pet Bakery set up a booth this year to change all that, handing out free dog treats to people’s canine companions as they wandered the annual celebration.
Business owner Melissa Grider said her dog-friendly bakery is normally limited to selling goods at farmers’ markets and craft fairs, and that the Riley Festival is the perfect opportunity to showcase her work.
She wanted to make sure that Hancock County’s furry friends enjoyed the Riley Festival as much as their human counterparts, Grider said.
Happy Mutt makes all their goods with organic or all-natural ingredients. This year their hot selling items were mini pumpkin pies and peanut butter cookies with peanut butter and honey filling, Grider said. The banana pup cakes were also a hit, she said.
“Dogs can get a little treat, and their people can get a little treat as well,” Grider said with a smile.
Political parade
A line of spectators stretched through Greenfield Saturday morning, cheering for local groups as they paraded “Out to Old Aunt Mary’s” — the poem of Riley’s chosen as the this year’s festival theme.
Dozens of cars and floats traveled from Greenfield-Central High School to the city’s downtown during the Riley Festival Parade, kicking off the third day of the annual festivities. Members of community businesses, organizations, clubs and politicians participated in the mile-long parade, while hundreds of families watched the groups pass by, some tossing candies to children along the route.
Among them were many local and state candidates, hoping to reach out to their constituents.
Janice Silvey, Republican county chairwoman, said the party had between 75 and 100 members attend.
“We just want to let everybody know that we’re here, loud and proud, to support our candidates, all of them,” she said.
Hancock County Democratic Party Chairman Randy Johnson said the parade is the best way for the party to reach local voters.
“For local visibility, you can’t beat it,” Johnson said. “This is our best chance economically for our candidates to get the exposure.”
But those looking to get away from politics for a bit weren’t disappointed. The parade was full of entertainment.
The Twilight Twirlers, an alumni group from Scecina Memorial High School on the east side of Indianapolis, twirled batons to Tim McGraw’s “Down On The Farm.” It’s the first time at the Riley Festival for the group, which started up “for the fun of it” about a year ago, said member Ann Holmes.
The group loves to perform at parades, and several members recommended signing up the Riley Festival Parade, as many have attended the festival in the past. On Saturday, they performed 3-minute twirling routines to the country song with about a minute of drum cadence between sets.
A regular of the parade, the Riley Wranglers, suited up in cowboy hats and western attire and square danced on their parade float. The 60-member group has been in Hancock County for 57 years, member Mike Holzhausen said, and has performed during parades for the Riley Festival and the county’s 4-H fair for more than 30 years.
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More photos of from the 2018 Riley Festival, A8
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