Rain dampens roads but not spirit of Spring Street Faire

Regina Silveira didn’t want to spend the day peering at the rain through her window.

That was reason enough to check out the Spring Street Faire on Saturday. She and her three daughters dusted off their umbrellas and braved the wet morning.

“I want to be around (these) people,” Silveira said of the vendors and entertainment at the fair. She didn’t want the rain to keep her and her daughters, 8-year-old Sidney, 5-year-old Kacey and 3-year-old Ivey, at home.

While the fair was smaller this year, it still contained the same vibrancy for which it’s known as one of the biggest events in Los Banos each year.

“I’m amazed at the vendors who actually came out and braved it,” said Bertha Faria, executive director of the Los Banos Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the Spring Street Faire.

Faria said 47 out of the scheduled 102 vendors came to the fair, which ran from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The rain also shut down the pony rides and petting zoo planned for Saturday. But the Knights Express train still chugged down Sixth Street.

John Cates, a chamber director and owner of JC’s Star Struck Karaoke and Entertainment Services, which provided music for the event, said the Castellanos Kenpo Karate club was the only programmed group out of four organizations that came and performed despite the rain.

Cates estimated 500 to 700 people attended the Spring Street Faire this year, down from the thousands that normally come out.

“It is what it is,” Faria said. “It’s a rain-or-shine event.”

Gene and Barbara Armond have been coming to the fair for the last several years and brought their 3-year-old Siberian husky, Luna.

Barbara Armond said they try to bring Luna to help her socialize more with people, especially children. Luna was beaming after she gobbled up a snow cone at the fair.

“It was nice weather last year, pretty hot,” Gene Armond said. “There was a lot more people than this year. But more have come (today) since we got here.”

For vendors, the rain meant less business.

Todd and Ellen Latronica were selling metallic sculptures from their business, Dirty Design and Apparel, at the fair for the first time this year. They didn’t sell as much as they anticipated.

“But people have been looking,” Todd Latronica said. “They’ve been interested in what we have, and I think we’ve been getting some business for the future.”

Alexis Brown, who operated a stand for her family’s business, Munch and Grub, said the rain had kept foot traffic slow. But she had received more interest in the beef jerky her family sells.

The rain also dampened the Los Banos Rotary Club’s biannual breakfast, which featured custom omelets this year as well as the traditional pancakes.

“This was our first year doing omelets,” Rotarian Marg Benton said. “It was a little lighter because of the rain.”

The breakfast was held from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Westside Union Intermediate School.

Proceeds from the breakfast will go toward Sober Grad Night, a celebration after graduation for Los Banos, Pacheco and San Luis high school students promoting arcade games and other sober forms of entertainment.

This story was originally published April 10, 2016 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Rain dampens roads but not spirit of Spring Street Faire."