Nightfall came Saturday and with it, Albany and Clinton County closed the book on the 37th edition of our favorite fall celebration and get together, the annual Foothills Festival.

With the exception of a slight drizzle that arrived with Friday’s afternoon parade but never became heavy enough to dampen anyone’s Foothills spirits, this year’s Foothills Festival Planning Committee obviously were successful in not only putting together a successful and entertaining schedule for the weekend, but also apparantly in getting the order in early for perfect fall weather.

Of course, even before the final event of this 2016 schedule, notes were being taken and plans were already being put in place for next year’s Foothills Festival edition as the event gets even closer to a four-decade long run.

Keeping with our long-standing tradition, this post-Foothills Festival issue of the Clinton County News is chock-full of photos that will give you, our readers, one final look back at the events, people and sights of the 2016 Foothills Festival.

On this page, in the top photo, a unique panoramic overhead view by NEWS Photographer Brett Gibson of the crowd that was gathered to enjoy the Saturday afternoon Lip Sync contest.

At far left, long-time Lip Sync competitor Reed Sloan brought another first place act to the stage in his 15-18 age category, when he portrayed, complete with the famous mullet hairstyle, Billy Ray Cyrus and Achy Breaky Heart.

At left, although sunny skies turned to a drizzle of rainfall Friday afternoon, the crowd stayed on hand to enjoy a fantastic parade that once again included groups of people, floats, clowns, cars, trucks, tractors, wagons and horses.

We hope you enjoy this collection of photos and we hope everyone had a fantastic 2016 Foothills Festival. We offer our congratulations and thanks to the Foothills Planning Committee on a job well done and we join the rest of the community in saying we look forward to the 2017 weekend in October when we again send out the invitation to the rest of the world to . . .

Come See It Our Way!