- By Dan Veaner
- Around Town
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Despite the postponement just short of 2,000 people came to Myers Park to celebrate Lansing. "It was lucky that you canceled, because the next day that big storm hit," said the Burns Sisters' Annie Burns. "But today is the perfect day. Nice crowd, too."
The Burns Sisters was the first professional band to perform on Myers Park's new bandstand, donated and built by the Lansing Lion's Club and completed just in time for the festival. "It is absolutely fantastic," Burns said. "This is so beautiful. Nice sound up there, plus you have Barney Cole doing the sound, which doesn't hurt. And what a perfect day, so we're very happy about that."
|  The Stoyell twins eye the festival  The Burns Sisters  Lansing High School Cabaret  Judging the chicken barbecue sauce  Carol Engels and friend from Angel Tree farm  It couldn't have been a nicer day for a habor festival  Frozen tee-shirt contest (Picture courtesy of Vicky Swanson)  Lansing Constable Scott Ferris  Wok Village's Le My Trieu Lam  (Picture courtesy of Vicky Swanson)  The Amish Market was only one of about 50 vendors  TCSPCA Kittens | ||
Village of Lansing Mayor Don Hartill and Town Supervisor Steve Farkas opened the festival by ringing bells and announcing its beginning. WHCU's Dave Vieser MCed the entire day, despite being up all night helping a friend who had suffered an automobile accident in Albany. A tired but enthusiastic Vieser made all the announcements and played music between performances, and picked the winners of 50/50 raffles throughout the day.
Next Lansing's High School Cabaret gave the first performance of any kind on the new band stand. When the festival was postponed Lucas Hibbard stepped in as director for Cindy Howell to make sure the students could perform. The Burns Sisters followed at 2pm. Originally scheduled for 6pm, they changed their time to accommodate backup musicians Kevin Maul and Larry Clyman, who were scheduled to perform in Saratoga Springs that evening.
The Ithaca Concert Band was unable to reschedule, as was Backtalk Band. But the latter's Bob Keefe recommended Pete Panek and the Blue Cats as a replacement, and they rocked the park at 4PM. The entertainment concluded with Tom Knight and the Blue Moon. Lansing Community Council President Ed LaVigne closed the festival with a ring of the bell.
In the Youth Activities Pavilion the Asbury Church offered face painting, and a variety of activities were scheduled through the day. The Sciencenter 's fossil activity was popular all day, and Lansing Youth Services offered a number of events, including a frozen tee-shirt contest in which teams were given shirts that had been dipped in water, then frozen. The first to thaw their shirt so a team member could wear it was the winner.
Lansing's fire department sent a fire truck where fire fighters Dan Ferguson and Brian Cameron gave out fire helmets to kids and let them see what it was like to be inside a real fire engine. Angel Tree farm brought alpacas to meet the crowd, and the Tompkins County SPCA had six kittens and a dog, all looking for homes.
While only half the food vendors were able to reschedule, there was a variety of offerings including Chinese/Vietnamese food from Wok Village, barbecue from the Lansing Lions Club, pizzas from Northeast Pizza, and ice cream by Dick Brecht.
In its first year most people didn't know what to expect. The Lansing festival was never meant to compete with the popular Ithaca Festival, and when people got there they found a unique event with an entirely different atmosphere. "It's got its own feel," said Lansing Park Superintendent Steve Colt, who was enjoying the event with his wife Ann. "The park is a gem, and to some people it's a hidden gem. This might be their first exposure, and I give all the credit to our staff that worked a ton of hours to bring it back to the way you see it now after the storm last week. They did a great job. It's impressive when you come in."
One of the highlights of the festival was 'The Baker Cup' chicken barbecue sauce competition. Honoring long time resident Bob Baker, who developed over 50 innovations in preparing chicken in his long career at Cornell, the contest was small, but spirited. When the festival was postponed only Trumansburg Chiropracter Jim Murphy and 16 year old Lansing student Tyler Engles could still make it. They barbecued their entries for the six judges that included Baker's son Dale and grandson Robert, Town Supervisor Steve Farkas, Town Councilman Marty Christopher, WHCU's Dave Vieser, and Village Mayor Don Hartill. They took careful notes, then added up the scores to pick a winner.
Engles's entry won by only three points. ""I really didn't have a secret ingredient," he says. "I just tried different combinations of spices, and it worked out pretty well. I tried six or seven combinations, and picked my favorite one."
At 5:30 Baker's wife Jackie awarded trophies adorned with golden chickens. Engles won $100 for himself, and got to designate another $100 to any of the programs supported by the Lansing Community Council. He chose Lansing Youth Services, because he had participated in many of their programs. "I want to congratulate you for carrying on this wonderful tradition," said Jackie Baker as she presented the trophies. "It took Lansing to make this a solid, strong business. Back in the '50s there were a lot of broilers that were not being bought. Cornell worried about it. Cornell felt that my husband Bob should develop a way to move these in the market. He did it with chicken barbecue, and Lansing stood behind him. It The Lions, the churches, the Masons, the school activities all got into the barbecue business, and I'll bet we have more chicken barbecuers here in Lansing than in any other town in New York State."
Baker offered some advice to the school board, which is looking for it's fourth superintendent in only six years. She noted that former school superintendent ray Buckley has been a mainstay of the Lion's Club chicken barbecues in town for many years. "Ray was here as our superintendent for 32 years," she said. "So I'm honestly wondering if maybe when the school board has to interview people for the administration or for teaching, that they get a chance to know what their barbecue background is."
Lansing Community Council works with Tompkins County United Way to bring funding to programs including the Lansing Recreation Department, Lansing Older Adult Program (LOAP), Lansing Drop-In Program, Lansing Youth Services, and to provide emergency aid. Festival Chair Karen Veaner expanded on that mission to bring more awareness of the council and its activities with the hope that the council can support more Lansing programs in the future. She also says the festival will provide a figurative 'main street' for a rural town that is spread out.
But the real success of the festival came from a community that was determined to make it a winner. "I think it's going very well," Colt summed up. "It's a nice crowd. The vendors are in a nice spot. There is a lot of nice flow that keeps people coming and going. You couldn't ask for a better day."
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