JEREMY WECHSLER Annual Middletown Street Festival overtakes Main Street for the weekend.

Middletown Shows its Spirit at Annual Main Street Festival By Lyndon J. Oh Contributing Writer

The streets and sidewalks of Middletown echoed with DJ-spun songs on Saturday, as the City celebrated its 39th annual Spirit of Middletown Festival.

Traffic was diverted around Main Street so that booths ranging from local fried dough stands to the Middletown Police Explorers could capitalize on the large volume of foot traffic. Political organizations, a Karioke booth, and a small auto show rounded out the festival’s offerings.

Wesleyan volunteers staffed a University tent, passing out brochures, sports and arts schedules and key chains to promote awareness of Wesleyan among Middletown residents.

"A number of people came by and said ‘I’m glad Wesleyan’s here,’" said John Driscoll, director of campus relations.

Wesleyan also hosted a water station for the festival’s ten kilometer road race on Saturday morning. "The wheelchair race was really spectacular," Driscoll said. "They had over 20 participants." The festival was held in September rather than July for the third consecutive year. "I think they like to have it after Wesleyan students have had a chance to settle in," Driscoll said. "One of the priorities is to promote town-gown relations between the city and Wesleyan students," said Festival Coordinator Cathy Duncan. Overall, students who attended were pleased with the event.

JEREMY WECHSLER Festival provides opportunity for interactions between Wesleyan and Middletown.

"It’s very refreshing to have an annual event like this for students to go out and enjoy a festive atmosphere and see a sense of civic pride within the town," said John Cleveland ’01. "It’s nice to see people out and around."

"There are a lot of sketchy places in town, but I was very impressed with the newly-renovated clock tower mall that I got a chance to look at this weekend," said Shuang Wang ’01.

A Saturday night prank added unexpected excitement to the festival. Ogilvie, a food conglomerate, sponsored a program, "Smart-Heart," for 150 Middletown residents. Participants were required to consume only Quaker Oatmeal for 30 days. Ogilvie guaranteed that this diet would yield a lower level of cholesterol.

To publicize "Smart-Heart" during the festival, Ogilvie placed a gigantic inflatable bowl of Quaker Oatmeal on top of the Main Street Market.

On Sunday morning festival officials discovered that the bowl was missing, allegedly stolen. Footprints were found on top of the building. Town authorities are currently investigating the theft.

The festival concluded with a musical tribute to the Supremes, featuring an original member of the group.

"It has a great festive atmosphere, celebrating together, and a true family event," Duncan said. "The annual festival will continue to be the pinnacle of civic pride and expression in years to come."