By By SPIROS GALLOS / Niles Daily Star
NILES - In contrast to last year, which saw three of the four festival days get rained on, the 32nd Four Flags Apple Festival welcomed about 90,000 visitors, according to festival officials.
Typical Festival highlights like the parade on Saturday and several contests were all well attended.
Kessler said the plan now is to pay the bills from last year's festival, which Kessler described as "a really bad year," and pay this year's bills before planning for next year's Apple Festival.
Volunteers went to work the moment vendors and ride operators closed shop, wheeling signs and equipment into the Apple Festival building for storage until next year.
Kessler said that it took the crew about three hours to put all the equipment back in the Apple Festival building.
This year was Kessler's first as Apple Festival board of directors president, but he said the festival wasn't a success because of him.
The Apple Festival had a crew of about 100 volunteers, consisting of board members, and their family and friends.
Fifty students from Ring Lardner Middle School helped the festival crew set up Wednesday night before the festival opened, and about 100 students cleaned the grounds Friday before the festival's "Exceptional Citizens Day."
Monday, volunteers will spend most of the day cleaning the rental equipment and preparing it to be returned.