Downtown Perrysburg: Coming Together

Vendors and booths galore; Commodore Perry statue; tin art, Philip's favorite; with his GranE  and all our bags.
A last rose of summer behind OSU booth.

"Look, Nana Franna," Philip shouted with glee.  He was pointing up to the sky.  Red and blue balloons were drifting off, higher and higher, becoming small dots against gray clouds. We followed them as they floated into the sky and beyond the horizon. We followed them to the Harrison Rally Day in downtown Perrysburg. 

The Sylvania, Maumee, Perrysburg area of our state is beautiful at this time of year.  My daughter, great-grandson and I drove down from Sylvania to Perrysburg on Saturday for the Harrison Rally Day.  I learned it was named after US President William Henry Harrison, who died a month after being elected, but he did represent Ohio in the US Congress and made a (memorable) campaign stop at Fort Meigs.   We enjoyed the changing foliage as we drove along the Maumee river.  We crossed the bridge and knew we were in Perrysburg when we saw the tall bronze statue of Commodore Oliver Perry, naval hero of the War of 1812, and the town's name sake.  The beautiful homes in and around Perrysburg's historic downtown are another visual treat, a variety of architectural styles, still as grand as they ever were, and lovingly preserved and maintained.   

And of course there were those balloons floating up to the sky.  They came from the dozens of booths lining Louisiana and Front Street, set free by a sudden breeze or a tiny hand letting go of a string.

Every imaginable business, shop, educational, religious and medical institution, and nonprofit group was represented at the street fair, and we filled free shopping bags, blazoned with various logos, with all sorts of free give-aways.  Philip found something at just about every booth to put in our bags.

The art show featured artists in every medium from around the region and as far away as Cleveland. I loved some of the watercolors; a lovely sunflower reminded me of Ukraine and my PCV friend Jud's watercolors. Elissa liked the photography and the collage art of D. Hererra. Philip's favorite was the tin art.  He bought a hand-made blue bird of happiness finger puppet to give his mom.  His enthusiasm was contagious, our budding art lover and festival enthusiast leading us up and down the street.  We floated up to the heavens with those balloons, but our feet were firmly planted on the ground.