Candy Dance tempo slows

This year's Candy Dance was not quite so sweet for the Town of Genoa as last year's. Nine percent less sweet, according to preliminary figures released Tuesday night.

Almost all of the decrease could be traced to the decision to reduce the number of booths the town rents out for the annual arts and crafts fair.

According to figures prepared for the town, the total take was $257,186, of which $147,657 came from booth fees. Last year booth fees accounted for $171,920.

Interim Town Manager Lisa Granahan said the town made a decision to have more stringent requirements for booths inside the town.

Candy Dance Event Coordinator Sheryl Gonzales said the 2006 fair, which raised $280,870 for the town, had 340 booths compared to 290 this year.

Candy sales this year lagged behind last year by $5,528, with $48,060 sold this year. Gonzales said there is some difference in opinion about the receipts for candy and that because less candy was made this year, expenses should decrease as well.

The dance, parking and merchandise sales were higher this year, offsetting the loss for candy, Gonzales said.

Bus service from the Carson Valley Inn and Douglas High School was overwhelmed on Saturday, according to Granahan. A single bus was used on Saturday and people weren't allowed to stand on the bus.

She said more buses need to be put in service on Saturday and perhaps fewer used on Sunday.

Longtime Douglas Area Rural Transit driver Ed Martinez said he was caught in the bus line on Saturday.

"When the bus got to the CVI it seemed like it was just picking up one or two people and there was a line of 50 people," he said. "When some people complained, the bus driver told them to shut up."

Martinez said 20-30 people got out of line after waiting for nearly an hour and drove into the event.

"It was very, very bad," he said. "I was very disappointed."

According to the preliminary budget 670 people paid $2 for a roundtrip into Genoa, but there were long lines and waits for the bus's arrival.

Gonzales said the town worked with those vendors on private property to stagger their arrival to smooth set-up. By controlling the flow of vendors into the town, Gonzales said there was less confusion on set-up.

Volunteer firefighter Martin Manning said he felt the town needed to address the issue of access during Candy Dance set-up.

"There was no way on Thursday through Monday that if there was a fire we could get through to a home to put it out," he said.

Manning said Genoa volunteers were unable to respond to a wildfire in Johnson Lane on Friday evening because town streets were blocked.

Town resident and businesswoman Martha Williams told board members they breached a contract with her and that she would not be contributing to the town.

Williams, who operates the Peddler's Fair at Antique's Plus, said that the barricades blocked access to her parking lot for customers.

"This whole thing is totally wrong," she said during public comment at the Genoa Town Board meeting on Tuesday.

She said her husband had to spend three hours escorting people around the roadblock and into her event.