25th Annual Colorscape Chenango Arts Festival

Colorscape Chenango Arts Festival in Norwich, NY

The city of Norwich, NY, where I moved to in May of 2018, is not a big city by any means. It has a population of 6,644 people according to the 2019 estimated United States Decennial census. That makes it the 133rd largest city in the state of New York. That is IF those statistics are correct on this day. Whatever it is, Norwich (NY) is not a big city, but large enough for me. I would not want to live in a city any bigger than this. It was a big change for me, moving from the country to the city life. Now I have lived in much larger cities and in fact, lived in St. Petersburg, FL, which was a beautiful city. For me it was too big. Being beautiful and being safe were two different things. Regardless, this is where I live now.

East Main & Broad Street Intersection

This week-end the 25th Annual Colorscape Chenango Arts Festival took place. I don't really know that much about it and the history of it. It was a fun week-end for me. Artists came from all over and I believe they were judged for their various art pieces and projects. It was very impressive! The streets were closed at the main intersection of Norwich (NY). East Park and West Park are two parks facing each other with the main street, Broad St. (Route 12) dividing them. Both parks were full of tents that were actually booths for the artists so they could sell their items. Such beautiful things for sale! Best thing is that people were buying! It looked to me like it was a good turnout. Cars were parked everywhere! Very crowded.

The Food Booths

The corner of my street was set up with all the food trucks. All kinds of foods were for sale. It smelled good. There was a lot of foods I had never seen sold at these type of things. I guess it is what I would call "fair foods" but I was able to hold off on buying any and waited till I got home to eat. Not real easy to eat a dish of something sitting on Jazzy. The tent with tables for eating were on the grass and hard for me to get to. There were all kinds of barbecue foods, such as pulled pork and chicken, tacos, macaroni and cheese.........yes, macaroni and cheese! I was surprised to see that being sold at a couple different food vendors.

Nate Gross & The Americana Strings

They had two stages set up with music playing most of the day. On Saturday, I hurried to get to East Park to see Nate Gross & The Americana Strings, our local talent from Oxford, NY. He was playing at 10:00 in the morning. I am so glad I got there in time to see him. He was really good! I stayed to listen to him till he was done. I met him some years back when he had a school in Oxford teaching kids to play the guitar. He bought some guitar strings from me back then. That was when I used to sell strings online. He now has a drum school in the other part of my building. It is fun watching him progress in his career and getting the recognition he deserves. If you ever get the chance to hear him play somewhere, go!

Sonny truckin' up the street on his Spitfire scooter!

Saturday I went to Colorscape by myself using Jazzy, my mobility chair. I felt free and independent. Instead of not seeing the whole thing, I was able to go to everything. Without Jazzy, I might have made it across the street with my walker but not for long or very far. Sunday, Sonny, my BF came over and he used his scooter, Spitfire, to go with me to Colorscape. It was a lot more fun with him! We felt like a couple of teenagers out and about. Days like that are good memories. Then we went to the grocery store and came home to fix supper. Had such a great day!

Copyright © 2019 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2019  Kathleen G. Lupole