Special to the Town Crier
It could have been the cooperative weather or people just ready to party, but the eighth annual Celebrate Los Altos Fall Festival, held this past weekend, was the best ever, according to beaming organizers.
"Everyone I talked with said it was the best fall festival we ever had," said Julie Rose, executive vice president of the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce. The chamber puts on the festival.
With more than 12,000 people attending, the laid-back event was a family affair with room for kids to roam the grounds and not get lost, while parents relaxed and listened to music.
More than 40 classic cars were on display Saturday and Sunday with awards given for the best- looking 1949 car.
Winner of the outstanding 1949 car award sponsored by the Los Altos Town Crier was Forest Preston III of Palo Alto, displaying his 1949 Packard Super 8, convertible Victoria model.
Honorable mention awards went to Thomas Johannsen of Mountain View for a 1949 Ford 2-door custom flathead, a red 1949 Dodge pickup truck from Clarke's Charcoal Broiler and Jerry Jensen of Los Altos and his 1949 MG.
"We had more cars this year and that made it a diversified auto show," said Paul Averell, chief promoter for this year's car show. "Every car exhibitor I spoke with was pleased and felt it was a nice trendy show to be in."
One of the more popular attractions of this year's festival was Children's Alley, which included a rock climbing wall, Twister's Tumble Bus, face painting, balloon creations, face painting and an electric train.
The celebrity chef demonstration booth featured local chefs describing their favorite recipes. Chefs Jamie Carpenter of Jocco's, Larry Chu of Chef Chu's and John Bentley of John Bentley's drew packed crowds.
Any negatives for the festival may have been lackluster sales in the food booths.
With the fair weather, observers said people didn't drink as much soda as expected and people didn't start buying wine until late afternoon both Saturday and Sunday.
"I had better shows where we sold more food, but the weather made it nice to be here," said Dave Leary of Papa Murphy's Take 'N' Bake Pizza.