GOOD WEATHER, CROWDS GRACE RIVERFEST; ATTENDANCE AT FESTIVAL HITS 60,000

ART LOOKS DOWN ON RIVERFEST: Cape Girardeau artist Craig Thomas draws with pastels "American Gothic" at the top of the steps to the Common Pleas Courthouse as crowds fill the downtown area Friday evening. (color)

Organizers of this year's Riverfest said the two-day celebration drew large but well-controlled crowds to Cape Girardeau's riverfront.

New restrictions on alcohol consumption combined with pleasant weather to contribute to the celebration's success, said Riverfest President Diane Howard.

"We had a great Riverfest from an organizer's standpoint," Howard said. "The crowd was excellent, and we're pleased with the kind of crowd we had this year. This was probably the smoothest Riverfest yet."

The celebration, now in its 13th year, drew an estimated 25,000 people to downtown Cape Girardeau Friday and 35,000 on Saturday.

Last year, nearly 60,000 people also attended the celebration over its two days.

"It was a bigger crowd Friday night than we've had before, and a much bigger crowd during the day Saturday," said Howard. She attributed larger crowds to the riverboat cruises, which sold out all trips Saturday.

Jay Wolz, publicity chairman for Riverfest, said the festival was noticeably cleaner and less-congested this year. The festival was expanded to about eight square blocks this year, two more than last year.

"I think it's all due to the change in the alcohol policy," said Wolz.

For the first time, alcohol consumption was allowed only in two fenced-off beer gardens on the Riverfest grounds. The festival was also spread out over a wider area than in previous years.

Howard said, as expected, the beer sales were down compared to last year. But, she said the policy will likely become permanent.

The beer gardens were meant to bring more of a family-oriented atmosphere to the two-day festival, Howard said. The city and the state have open container laws that prohibit people from walking the streets with open containers of alcohol.

Wolz said he received some complaints about the policy, but some people also told him they liked the policy.

Brian Stevens, chairman of security for the festival, said: "You ask anybody and everybody's got an opinion on the beer garden.

"We thought things might get rowdy inside the gardens, and in fact it was mighty loud, but we were really surprised. Things stayed under control."

Cape Girardeau police reported no arrests at the downtown festival. Stevens said security was heavy in the vicinity of the beer gardens.

"I think for the most part people were happy with it," he said. "The people who come here just to drink beer don't like it."

Howard said allowing drinking in restricted areas helped tremendously in controlling litter.

Clean up crews were surprised Saturday morning with the small amount of beer cups that were lying on the streets, she said.

"We used to pick up thousands and thousands of beer cups on the grounds," Howard said. "This year we couldn't get over how clean it was."

More trash containers were set out this year also, Howard said.

Temperatures during the two-day festival were in the mid-80s, and there was a light breeze for most of Saturday, said a spokesperson for Mid-America Weather.

Steve Niswonger, a Cape Girardeau fireman working at the fire department's hamburger and lemonade booth, said the milder weather contributed to more business for the many vendors who set up shop during the festival.

"It was so blistering hot last year," Niswonger said. "I think this year, business is considerably better. And the weather is a big part of it."

Howard said people came down to Riverfest earlier in the day this year, something she attributed to the presence of the Spirit of St. Charles Riverboat.

Cruises began Thursday evening and were offered again Friday and Saturday.

On Saturday, Wolz said the cruises were selling out two to three hours before their scheduled departure. Some Friday cruises weren't as full, he said.

He said 300 tickets can be sold for each cruise.

"We were expecting there would be about 80 percent capacity, so this is great," Wolz said.

Riverfest officials said that tickets remain for all Sunday cruises, including a 12:30 cruise that features a buffet lunch.

Howard said the Riverboat, which was renamed "Boatmen's Spirit of Riverfest" for its appearance at the festival, gave the celebration a river-heritage focus.

"It's definitely something we're going to look into repeating," she said.

At the Saturday night fireworks display, an unfortunate wind blew some ashes and in at least one case a live explosive unto some parked vehicles. Damage was confirmed on one vehicle and other claims might be forthcoming, said a Riverfest official.

In addition to boat rides, there were also carnival rides and camel rides. Howard said the carnival was twice as big as last year.

Dave Hale of 5-H Ranch brought six of his camels to the festival and sold rides on them. He said it's the first time in seven years he's brought the animals to the festival.

"There's something about a camel that fascinates kids," he said.

A high school junior from Marion, Ill. was named Miss Riverfest 1991. Julie Schoeninger, 16, competed with 21 other girls for the title.

First runner-up was April Ballance, 17, of Wolf Lake, Ill.; second runner-up was Marisa Morris, 15, of Malden; third runner-up was Jennifer Felter, 16, of Benton and fourth runner up was Sarah King, 17, of Morley. Felter was also voted Miss Congeniality.

A Chesterfield boy won the turtle race held Saturday afternoon. Jon Hunze, 11, who entered his brother's turtle, won a $50 savings bond for having the fastest of the 50 turtles that competed in the race.

Joe said the soft-shell turtle, which has no name, has been in training for the event for weeks.