Photographer Glen Heck captures the crowds at the Blues Fest

Far from ‘singing the blues’, Paoli was alive and energized for the 2nd Annual Paoli Blues Fest and street fair this past Saturday. With the unsurpassed energy of Marie Thibault as a co-chair, this exciting community event exceeded any of our projected attendance numbers. With guidance from the third member of the Blues Fest board of directors, John Fattiene, the stage and sound crew, tent rental company employees and fest volunteers worked to ready the main stage, vendor row and the beer garden at Paoli Village Shoppes at dawn as the sun was coming up.

Young musicians from the School of Rock in Berwyn performed the final sound check prior to the professional blues bands taking the stage. As the blues flowed from the stage, the temperature soared and memories were created. In addition to the main stage, eight blues bands performed at the Paoli Shopping Center and at Malvern Federal Bank. The music committee did an amazing job of selecting the blues bands to perform on the main stage at Paoli Village Shoppes and secondary locations at Malvern Federal Bank and Paoli Shopping Center.

Working with our fellow Paoli small business owners and volunteers over the past year, this event was an opportunity to showcase our hometown spirit and the big heart of the community. With a budget in excess of $30,000, we are grateful to the many individuals, businesses and corporate sponsors who helped in the success of the 2^nd Annual Paoli Sings the Blues. We appreciate major sponsors Paoli Hospital and Main Line Today and are grateful to many other contributors including Paoli Hardware, Malvern Federal Bank, MainLineNeighbors.com, The Hardware Center, Delaware Valley Friends School, Philadelphia Inquirer, Main Line Media News, to name a few, who believed in us, our vision and the community.

People arrived by car, by train and on foot. It’s hard to have an exact count on how many attended; we know the number was high and in the thousands; streets, sidewalks and parking lots were full and overflowing. With the economic difficulties facing our local business community, the 2nd Annual Paoli Blues Fest created an opportunity to introduce our local businesses and give the public a reason to come back to Paoli.

We thank the music committee, the tireless volunteers, the sponsors and most of all we thank the public for spending a magical, special afternoon in Paoli for the 2^nd Annual Paoli Blues Fest. The memories of this day will last long after the music stopped and I was thrilled to be a part of it!

Pattye Benson
Co-Chair
Paoli Sings the Blues — 2nd Annual Paoli Blues Fest