Ludington Oktoberfest 2015: Tents in the Wind

[XLFD]

If you made it into downtown Ludington over the early part of the weekend you may have caught the Ludington Octoberfest 2015.  On Friday night starting at 7 PM, the sponsors, Bell's Brewing, offered some learning on how craft beer is made and some samples of what they would be serving the next day at the VIP Beer School.

On October 10th, the main event went on starting with a chili walk from noon to 3 PM and then the beer flowed along with the live music from 3 PM to 10 PM.  For the kids, you could have left them at the James Street Plaza a couple of blocks away from the main event where they could enjoy crafts and decorating pumpkins, but would have to send them elsewhere after three o'clock. 

Now, I didn't go past the event during the times this event was on, which like last year, took place at the parking lot to the east of the fire department.  So why am I commenting on the event at all?   Well, just like last year, Ludington High School played at home on Friday night, not on Homecoming like last year, but still a well-attended home game.  Like last year, the beer school and this game ended at about the same time, but unlike last year, their weren't coincidental homecoming dances and beer festival activities going on the next day.

Being that there are a couple of churches within 500 feet of the party grounds, there is a fair chance that they avoided getting liquor permits with those pastors' signature on them, as they have done in the past, even when they held a less ambitious Octoberfest celebration at the James Street Plaza.  Without such signatures, the permits would be incomplete and supposedly invalid.

What I've noticed is what has happened since the festivities wound down on Saturday night.  The sponsors cleaned up their gear and got out of town either that night or early the next day, leaving the city-owned tents up, the city-owned fences around the festival's perimeter up, and the rented porta potties that cover a large portion of the sidewalk on the south side of the parking lot. 

These structures stayed throughout the day Sunday, with one of the tents suffering some structural damage from the heavy winds that blew, with this tent flapping and uprooted stakes and posts flailing with the wind, providing a safety hazard for those who travelled near the fences and not doing any good to the tent, paid for by taxpayer dollars. 

As of late Sunday evening, the fencing was forcing pedestrians to travel into Loomis Street around the porta-potties, and along with some other barriers, preventing vehicle travel up the alley to the north of the lot, where the tent is blowing in the wind.  The Ludington Fire Department has its parking reduced dramatically enough by the area, and the first arriving person has to get out of his vehicle and manually lift a barrier to get to LFD parking. 

Provided that Ludington's DPW takes care of things first off on Monday morning, these safety hazards and poor usages of public property will have been allowed to occur for nearly a day and a half of windy weather.  Those tents are worth several thousands of dollars of public money, those fences unnecessarily push pedestrians into the street near a fire station-- given the location and activities, those pedestrians may be less than sober.  

Is this acceptable for the people of Ludington?

[XLFD]

10:00 AM Monday 10-12 Update:  The main tent is still up, the helter-skelter one has been cleared off, as has the fencing.  Nobody was present doing anything, but they had gathered up the garbage and the porta potties.  Still present was about six metal stakes projecting a foot above the ground pounded into the far end of the sidewalk-- actually in the pavement of the sidewalk, with ropes extended to the main tent.  A barricade was still present on one side blocking the sidewalk.

Isn't that what you want in the downtown, a tripping hazard and damage to the sidewalks you pay for?  The same guys who want to tell us how safe our rental houses are or aren't without a property maintenance code in force are the same idiots who plan this every year. 

[AQUAMAN]

And one at city hall will always complain over and over about signage being left up too long? Where is she on this safety hazard? I'll bet nothing is said again tonight at the CC mtg. either. Oh well, good cheer and hangovers to the participants. 

[Willy]

I wonder how many people drove away from this beer guzzling event drunk as skunks and I wonder if the police were given a wink and nod so they would not pull over any of the cars leaving the beer bust. They probably could have easily filled the jail with drunk drivers. I love beer but I don't approve of this type of public drinking when so many people must travel in motor vehicles to get there and back. Let's admit it. These types of beer bashes are just an excuse to get drunk and to reach down and grab your mother in law's butt when you dance with her.

[XLFD]

Your last reference wouldn't be so weird except that most of us here at Mason County with a desire for strong drink have to deal with the fact that our mother-in-law also used to be our aunt.  Regardless, the rest of your response is well taken, and if our leaders are serious about our public safety it may want to put a moratorium on all of these drinking events that seem to be multiplying every year. 

The downtown has transformed itself into a mélange of bars, breweries, bike shops, galleries, and other businesses that appeal to the transient visitors we get; the events have reflected that change as well.  If you want to buy a hammer, Hydrogen Peroxide, or a tennis racket you need to travel out of town.