Jim Fair
Rudy Painter, Family Fest executive director, (purple shirt) joins the Marshall Tucker Band for a photo minutes after the band's performance was canceled.
Jim Fair
Reedy Rip'It was the guest of New York Life at its booth Saturday. Children and adults asked Reedy to pose for photographs.
This sign says it all – "I am freezing" – that was painted on a wall at Creation Station.
Jim Fair
Food vendors break down their stations after Family Fest officials canceled the evening's activities because of steady rain with cold temperatures.
The Marshall Tucker Band’s scheduled performance at the Village Hospital Greer Family Fest was cancelled tonight because of steady rain that made the City Park venue soggy and the sound equipment susceptible to water damage.
Doug Gray, front man for the MTB band, and Rudy Painter, Family Fest chairman, tentatively agreed for the MTB to perform at the 2014 Family Fest, scheduled May 2-3.
“I can’t say enough how gracious the band has been,” Painter said. Gray said the band will review the contractual financial commitments and anticipate agreeing to the 2014 date.
“I don’t have anything to do now,” Gray said during its regularly scheduled greet-and-meet at city hall.
“We absolutely wanted to put on the show but we never had winter in May,” Painter said.
Also canceled were the veterans’ “Walk of Honor” and the Greer Leadership Class XXXIII unveiling of a trailer for Greer Relief to use as a mobile unit for storage, receiving and delivering donations in the community. That will now take place at the class’ graduation Wednesday at the BMW Zentrum at 6 p.m.
Festival officials canceled the remainder of the schedule at 6:45 p.m. Becky Green, the opening act for the MTB, performed a few songs but didn’t complete her set. The remaining vendors who braved the cold temperatures, wind and intermittent rain the past two days broke down their displays.
Allen Smith, President and CEO of the Greater Greer Chamber of Commerce, the host of the festival, said, “We can’t control everything and we had to make a difficult call.”
Some volunteers were reporting in just after the event was cancelled. “It was humbling to see the volunteer staff still showing up,” Smith said.
Some vendors didn’t make it through Friday night and others began breaking down displays as the weather worsened throughout the day.
Downtown restaurants experienced their busiest day on Saturday. A Wild Ace Pizza employee said there were patrons waiting in line throughout the day and evening. The Stomping Grounds experienced arguably its busiest day serving warm drinks and soup. It also featured entertainment from 4 p.m. through the evening.