Record number of vendors blamed for overheated transformer at Fall Festival; mayor pledges changes

Story and Photos by Sierra McLean
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Midway’s Fall Festival drew thousands to town on a warm, sunny Saturday, but hit a roadblock in the afternoon when an electrical transformer overheated and leaked hot oil.

The leak at the corner of Gratz and Main was reported to the police by a festival goer. Power to downtown had to be cut off while Kentucky Utilities replaced it. According to Mayor Grayson Vandegrift, the power went out around 4:15 p.m. and was out for about 30 to 45 minutes.

The faulty transformer

Vandegrift said the transformer overheated because there were too many vendors at the festival drawing electricity. He said Elisha Holt, the contracted coordinator for the Midway Business Association, assured the city council in August that the festival would have no more than 210 vendors, a record number. “She told us, on record, ‘We are not adding anymore vendors. We are turning our waiting list away’,” Vandegrift said.

Asked about that, Holt said, “Well, we had 230 vendors who actually paid to be here, but oftentimes they don’t all show up, and there are several who aren’t here.”

Vandegrift said, “Where I feel burned is that the permit was approved for 210 vendors. I started getting reports from people today who thought there were as many as 250.”

Transformer oil spilled onto the street.

Asked if anyone was monitoring what was being plugged in, Holt said, “No, no, that’s never been the situation. Not only was it not regulated, it’s never been regulated.”

Vandegrift said, “It frustrates me that they turned around and overloaded the circuits like this and we were warned -- now we passed this warning onto the coordinator, told them that you still can’t just plug anything you want into this. There has to be some oversight and some control of how many circuits are being overloaded. And then we have what happened today.”

Holt saw the loss of power in an opposite way. “That gave those food booths, who normally are making food the whole time, a half an hour to go shopping.” she said. “A vendor actually came in here and said, ‘Normally I have to cook the whole time, but I had half an hour to come and shop,’ so it all worked out. It was fine.”

Vandegrift said, “I didn’t hear anyone who was upset about losing power. The ones I talked to seemed very understanding and patient.”

Prototype was among several bands performing at the festival.

But he also said, “I feel like it’s an insult to the city (a) to violate the permit and (b) to essentially cause a problem that the city has to fix, despite the fact that we don’t put on this festival and we don’t receive any money from this festival, aside from our normal permit fees from the vendors, which will total about $4,000 this year.”

He continued, “What worries me is that it created a potential public safety hazard by having hot oil dripping from a transformer. What if a kid was walking under that or something?”

Vandegrift added that he “wasn’t throwing Elisha under the bus” but just trying to do his job, “protect the city and the interests of the city.” He said Saturday night, “I had a great conversation with Elisha tonight and she was very agreeable to making some changes and were agreeable to working with them.”

In the end, Vandegrift said he just wanted to make sure that “everyone still had a good time.” He said, “It’s really, really important that this festival remains a community event… and that it’s not about an entity or individual making as much money as possible. When it becomes that, we have a serious problem. I’m not saying it has become that, but I am seeing troubling signs that it is moving in that direction.”

When asked if this would change how the festival is run, Vandegrift said, “I can guarantee you significant changes are going to be made.” Vandegrift is running for election to a four-year term that begins Jan. 1. His opponent is county school board Chairman Ambrose Wilson IV.

Spectators got a close look as one of RJ Corman Railroad Co.'s freight trains rolled through Main Street.

Despite the temporary electric problem, thousands enjoyed the festival, and vendors were happy. Debbie Osbourne, who works for the Purple Buffalo Lavender Co., a first-time vendor, said, “It has been very good for us.”

Susan Davisson, left, a designer at Jewelry by the Spoonful in Cynthiana, said this was her ninth year at the festival. When asked what keeps bringing her back, Davisson said, “This is my biggest money-making festival.”

The Pop Shop popcorn company was also pleased. Tiffany Davies said they came because, “We had heard so many good things about it and there’s a huge variety of vendors here. So, there’s sorta something for everybody. Plus, they are really good at not doing a lot of duplications.”