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History
The first Catoctin
Colorfest was held in 1963. The first four Colorfest events consisted of
nature walks organized by Duncan Burchard, Catoctin Mountain
Park naturalist. They
attracted approximately 60 people each year. Between 1968 and 1971 the event
expanded to include art exhibits, church dinners, orchard tours, and apple
butter boiling. Attendance grew each year and by 1971, 30,000 people came to
enjoy the festivities.
1973 was the first year
that craftspeople were invited to participate. They were located in the
Thurmont community park and the carnival grounds. The event was planned by
volunteers working under the direction of the Catoctin Mountain Tourist
Council. In 1974, the first officers of the Colorfest organization were
elected to plan the 1975 event, which drew an estimated 75,000 people. True
to bad luck superstition, the 13th Colorfest in 1976 was a near disaster when
Frederick County suffered one of the worst
floods in history that Saturday. On Sunday, though, the rain stopped, the
crowds came, and the show went on.
President Ernest Hall
instituted the first annual dinner meeting of Catoctin Colorfest in 1977. It
is held in November of each year. That year 30,000 brochures were distributed
to advertise our event. A raffle was held to defray the printing costs, with
craft prizes donated by our participants. 186 crafts and food stands made up
the Colorfest.
A new craft area was
added in front of the Thurmont
Middle School in 1980
(used until 2006). The brochure was revised under the direction of the new
president, Beverly Zienda, to include diagrams of the town and all of the
craft areas, making identification and location easier for our many visitors.
By the time we reached our 20th year in 1983, the Colorfest had become a very
successful event. After all the bills were paid there was some money left
over. Our organization agreed that this money should be put back into the
community of Thurmont. A donation was made to the town. A scholarship was
established at Catoctin
High School. Each year
following that, we put all of the proceeds of this event back into the
community. We have contributed to many worthy projects in recent years - to
cite just a few:
- We paid for the rewiring of
the small pavilion in the town park;
- We donated money to help
cover the cost of paving the back loop of the park;
- We covered the cost of paving
the parking lot at East
End Park;
- We gave annual donations to
all three of our local schools;
- We increased our annual
scholarship program to include an award for local adults returning to
college;
- We supported our historical society;
- We supported our local fire
and ambulance companies;
- We donated money for new
playground equipment in our parks;
- We purchased new Christmas
decorations for the Town of Thurmont;
- We paid to have the back loop
of the community park wired with electricity;
- We purchased new park benches
for use in the town parks;
- We donated three trees in the
Thurmont Memorial
Park in memory of three local U.S. service members who died in Iraq;
- We purchased a new flag pole
for the community park ballfield and new flags for the Thurmont Town
Office; and
- This past year, we sponsored
Thurmont Movie Night which included a free admission outdoor movie,
refreshments, and giveaways.
By the time we reached
our 25th anniversary in 1988, we had 350 participants and our event had
become well known throughout the United States. Each year we host
many chartered buses who have included our event in their regular schedule of
trips.
This year, as we
celebrate our 45th anniversary under the direction of our president of 28
years, Beverly Zienda, we take pride in the fact that our event has literally
put Thurmont on the map. We draw an estimated annual attendance of
100,000-200,000 people. All proceeds from the Colorfest continue to benefit
our community in many ways. After last year's event, we donated money to the
Town of Thurmont, to all four local schools,
supported our high school's graduation party, gave three $1,000 scholarships,
purchased new park benches for the Town of Thurmont, purchased a new flag pole for the
commiunty park ballfield, and sponsored Thurmont Movie Night. This year
we have sponsored two more Thurmont Movie Nights, donated 45 cases of food to
the Thurmont Food Bank, and present 22 scholarships to graduating seniors at Catoctin High School, bringing our total scholarship
donations to over $120,000. We are entirely self-supporting, and we are
dedicated to putting all proceeds to work in the community.
We hope hope that you
will enjoy your weekend with us, visit the two craft areas at the community
park and the activities grounds, and support the people in these two areas
who continue to help our community grow.
Please come back again
next year on October 9 & 10, 2010, when we will host the 47th annual
Catoctin Colorfest.
Colorfest Presidents
since the organization was incorporated:
1.
John Brown,
1975
2.
Steven Newmann, 1976
3.
Ernest Hall,
1977 - 1978
4.
Thomas Brown,
1979
5.
Beverly Zienda, 1980 – 2008
6.
Carol Robertson, 2009
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