Foothills XXXIX ~ you folks came out

Posted October 24, 2018 at 8:40 am


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Cumberland Street was again packed with fans in standing room only for Saturday’s Foothills Festival Lip Sync contest as the crowd, shown above, waited for the announcement of the winners for the 19 and over category. Below, well-known Exile rocked another packed street of fans on Friday night with a concert lined with familiar hits from their now 55 years of performing. Many fans who enjoyed the show remarked that it had been the best night of musical entertainment of the Foothills’ 39 year history. At right, the sights and sounds on stage this year during the Lip Sync were certainly some of the best – and most unique – but the medley performed by Hannah Smith and Sarah Neal, earned them a first place finish in the open category.

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Foothills Festival fans came out in big numbers again last weekend for the 39th edition of our annual fall celebration in the streets.

Although the weather was fantastic on Friday and Saturday afternoon, prompting local residents and visitors to flock to the downtown area in big numbers, there were some tense times weather-wise.

Sunny skies and warm fall temperatures on Friday morning and Friday afternoon led to a packed house in Albany for the annual Foothills Festival parade, and the miles-long collection of floats, cars, people and animals, certainly didn’t disappoint.

As the day turned to night and attention moved to the stage where the weekend’s top billed entertainment would take place, Exile took the stage in front of a packed street of fans.

Concert organizer Randy Speck told the Clinton County News on Saturday that he was watching the weather build up in the west, and was relieved that the show went on and came to an end just as the rain started to fall – dampening the streets but certainly not the success of the event itself.

Billed as a tribute concert to long-time Foothills Planning member Jerry Perdue, Speck said it was as if Perdue was watching from above and pushing the rain clouds back until the concert had ended

Cool temperatures, misty rain and plenty of clouds kept Foothills Planning Committee members looking upward for most of the morning Saturday and well into the early post-noon hours as well, but when the clouds did part and the sun came through, the people came out as well.

You came. You played. You danced. You clapped. You ate. You visited.

The 5K Run went off without a hitch, there were contests – Parent-Child Look-a-like, Lip Sync, Hotdog eating, and many more, the entertainment played on and the crowds stayed late and enjoyed every minute of this 39th celebration in the streets.

As has long been the tradition, this week’s post-Foothills edition of the Clinton County News is chock-full of photos made by Brett Gibson and Al Gibson. After looking through literally thousands of photo files, the best have been chosen and are published in these pages this week. We hope you enjoy.

Kudos to the Foothills Planning Committee on another outstanding job of spending 12 months putting things together so we could once again come out and celebrate living in our little community.

Hopefully, next year, we’ll come out and do it again, this time for the 40th time, and we will once again bid to the world to join us and …Come See It Our Way!