John Grossmeier and Linda Coleberd were crowned king and queen of the Twain on Main River Life Festival Saturday morning in downtown Hannibal.
In keeping with the theme, Mark Twain’s book “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court,” Mayor Roy Hark invited the festival crowd to the coronation by loudly declaring, “Here ye! Here ye! Here ye! All gather round. Let the royal subjects come forth. Here ye! Here ye!”
Tom and Becky (Catie Altheide and Alec Voss) crowned the king and queen, with Tom kneeling as he presented the king his crown.
Coleberd said she was quite honored to be queen of the first Twain on Main, adding “it’s a lovely day, and lots of people are here to see the coronation and take in the festivities.”
King John and Queen Linda were soon promenading along North Main Street, accompanied by horn player Luke Dye and members of King Arthur’s court from the time of Camelot.
The “court” was composed of actors associated with the theater department at Quincy (Ill.) University, led by Connie Phillips. The colorfully-clad actors included Josh Houle, Hope Shinn, Dan Nelson, Lauren May, Jenny Klinghammer, Marion Dye, Rachael Tieman, Andreea Tieman, Kaitlyn VanderMaiden, Valerie Hernandez and Matt McClanahan.
Among the other “dignitaries” present was Mark Twain, aka Jim Waddell, who also was greeting people and posing for pictures. One picture was with a baby girl, Breelyn Huffman. Breelyn was with her family, minus her dad, who is serving in Iraq. The baby and her mother came from their home in Virginia to live in Monroe City with Breelyn’s grandmother, Jamie Chambliss, until her dad comes home.
Later Saturday, the Tom and Huck statue at the north end of Main Street was rededicated, marking the restoration of its foundation and new landscaping.
A dunking booth offered an opportunity to watch a “celebrity” from a local business drop into the water tank, while the ball-thrower helped local food banks by buying tickets. When Jill James of The Brick Oven was in the booth, a large crowd gathered to throw the balls. Another popular “victim” was Steve Yager of the Hannibal Courier-Post.
On Sunday, Steve Russell reported $400 was raised at the dunking booth Saturday, and he believed Sunday’s total was about the same. Russell’s wife, Kristine, was on the festival committee, and he said the committee had heard the vendors were happy with the turnout.
Many of the items for sale by the vendors were works of art or jewelry, but some also had clothing, such as Betty Hallows, whose pinafore and bonnet set was tried on by Andrea Altiser, 7, of Hannibal.
Families decorate
memorial lanterns
The festival continued all day Saturday, concluding with a memorial lantern release at the Mississippi riverfront. At 7:45 p.m. the crowd gathered in Nipper Park, where chairs and candles were provided by the James O’Donnell Funeral Home, sponsor of the event.
A color guard, patriotic music, speeches and prayer were included in the program, as the hundreds of memorial lanterns were sent down chutes into the mouth of Bear Creek. The lanterns floated upstream into Bear Creek, where they were to be caught later, as some of the families gathered on the creek bank to watch and try to identify their lanterns as they floated by.
Carolyn Smith came from the tiny town of Monkey Run to decorate a lantern in memory of her husband, Robert, who died in March 2008. She said if they had been released into the Mississippi River, she could have watched them as she drove home.
Some families decorated more than one lantern, such as Maudean Sellars and her sister, Barb Haskins. They were writing messages on three - for their parents, Sellars’ in-laws, and Haskins’ late granddaughter, Rachel Vester.
The Rev. Tim Goodman, the featured speaker, said this was a time, “to look back and remember the loved ones who have gone before us,” who gave love, support, and sacrifices.
Goodman added the people also were there to “honor the hope for peace in our world, a peace that our loved ones lived for. In this peaceful setting, as we launch the lanterns here tonight, they will float down this little stream, and it will be a testimony to the peace that God placed in this world, quietly, as lanterns that float. As you see the lanterns, think about the light that is among you.”
Merchants pleased
with festival crowd
Several business reported good sales during the festival, including some who brought their products outside to a booth. At one of the large booths, Rumor Has It sold their fish sandwiches and pork burgers. As the festival came to a close late Sunday afternoon Darin Smith reported “the fish went over really well” on Saturday, and on Sunday, they made their pork burgers double, which proved popular.
Stores also had a busy weekend, such as Miss Trindy’s Main Street Boutique. Owner Latrinda Taylor said she had a really good weekend last year at the River Art Festival and, “I think it is comparable” this year. “Business has been good.”
At one of the festival’s jewelry booths, Linda Lucke of Quincy, Ill., was selling her fused glass works. She was happy to have her sister, Barb Hall, come from Kentucky to help at her booth.
Twain on Main was co-sponsored by the Historic Hannibal Marketing Council, Downtown Hannibal Development Corporation, Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum, Iva’s Printing and Hometown Signs & Engraving.
On Saturday afternoon, Dr. Cindy Lovell, executive director of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum, said that with the big events taking place that day, “everything went very well. It was organized. The weather cooperated, and the volunteer staff did a beautiful job.
“I’ve heard very good comments from vendors, downtown businesses and from the people who visited,” Lovell said. “I feel very proud of everybody. We had great help from Michael Gaines from the (Hannibal) Arts Council, and you can see the transition (from the River Art Festival the HAC previously sponsored on Memorial Day weekend) was a smooth one, in handing it over. We have more than 60 vendors, a lot of beautiful art, and I saw a lot of things being toted out of here. The shops downtown were happy and felt like they had a lot of traffic today. I was really tickled to see so many of the local food shops come out on the street with their tables.”
Museum Curator Henry Sweets agreed. On Sunday he said the festival planners were happy with the weekend and were already looking ahead to next year.
