Sterling Heights

Worth the wait

By Cortney Casey
C & G Staff Writer

The ferris wheel awaits patrons at Sterlingfest Aug. 6.

Visitors arrive early to take

in Sterlingfest splendor

STERLING HEIGHTS — It’s Thursday morning in Sterling Heights, but not just any Thursday morning.

It’s Aug. 5, and across Dodge Park and the City Center campus it’s the calm before the Sterlingfest storm.

Under the already blistering sun, municipal and festival workers are adding the finishing touches, readying for crowds that will begin trickling in at 10 a.m. Later on, that trickle will become a flood.

“It’s a big relief when everything starts going, when you hear 10 o’ clock hit on the morning of the fair,” said Community Relations Director Steve Guitar. “It’s a real source of pride, because you see how hard the city employees work in putting this all together, and all the volunteers show up. … Everything just starts to go off, you know? Then to see the smiles on all the families and all the kids’ faces, it’s great. It makes it all worthwhile.”

The heavy lifting, so to speak, had already occurred. Planning begins months in advance; the physical setup, weeks before.

Temporary fences and signage began appearing along roadsides in late July. Earlier in the week, a veritable village of carnival workers staying in RVs had sprung up around the park’s outskirts, and the mammoth rides, folded in on themselves for transport, were being hauled in.

On the first morning of the three-day festival, with mere minutes to go, it was just down to the final details.

Obscured the night before, the white-draped art booths, arranged in tidy rows outside the Police Department and library, were thrown wide open, buzzing with crafters laying out their wares. Yellow-shirted staff members zipped about on golf carts, addressing last-minute issues and overseeing the activity.

Near City Hall, food vendors hurried to arrange an array of edibles, and the After 5 Jazz Ensemble, the first act of the day at the Sterling Heights Firefighters Jazz and Blues Court, began warming up.

Audrey Tatarelli of Chesterfield Township, whose husband, Frank, is the saxophone player, looked on from a shaded picnic table. It was her first time at Sterlingfest, and she was eager to explore.

“We’re going to be looking around later and seeing what all the beautiful tents are here,” she said.

In the midway, set up in the Dodge Park parking lot, a stretch of trailers that would later be swarmed by crowds clamoring for elephant ears, cotton candy and ice cream stood empty. The Ferris wheel and carousel, devoid of passengers, rotated slowly, completing their test runs.

Dennis Nguyen and Petar Tchardakov, both 15, perched at a picnic table at around 9:45 a.m., waiting for the midway to open, Tchardakov keeping track of time via his cell phone. The Sterling Heights teens said they wanted to maximize the value of their all-day wristbands.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to hit the Fireball,” said Tchardakov. “It puts you almost upside down.”

Besides that, they planned to eat and hang out with friends — “just chill,” said Nguyen. 

A table away, Janice Foley and her son Ryan, 10, also awaited the fair’s official start.

“We hit it early in the morning, and they can run around and ride all day,” she said.

Their Sterlingfest schedule has become a tradition: Thursday, tackle the carnival area; Friday, perform in the Kidzfest Tent with their family magic act, Foley the Fabulous; Saturday, return for the evening concerts.

Like Nguyen and Tchardakov, Ryan had his eye on the Fireball.

“In first-grade, I rode it seven times,” he said. It was his personal record, “although last year, I almost beat it,” he added.

When 10 a.m. came — and Nguyen and Tchardakov had sped off to stake their claim on the Fireball — so did the people.

As if a switch were flipped, groups were suddenly strolling onto the festival grounds, forming lines for ride wristbands, clustering around the art booths, plunking down to listen to After 5.

David Stumpf of Sterling Heights gets to see the event from both sides. The municipal employee brought his kids Caitlin, 9, and Nicholas, 6, and nieces Madeline, 10, and Dominique, 12, to the Kidzfest Tent as soon as it opened Thursday, and he planned to return that evening to work it.

Stumpf likes milling around the fair in the morning when there are fewer lines, but he also enjoys “just walking around when it’s a little more crowded, people watching,” he said.

And the smells, he added, are to die for — especially the elephant ears.

Dana Gress also experiences Sterlingfest from multiple perspectives. He’s attended the fair as a Shelby Township resident, and more recently, as a Sterling resident. His band, Chill FX, was set to take the Jazz and Blues Court stage Friday, playing “feel-good music with a universal appeal,” including songs from their new CD, “Dawn of the Blu Frog.”

While people tend to drift in and out at most events, Gress said he was amazed to see how rapt the audience was when Chill FX first performed at Sterlingfest last year.

“I think the crowds at Sterlingfest are a very receptive, well-educated audience,” he said. “They know good music when they hear it. And they usually stick around for the entire two- to three-hour set. People just camped out on the grass and stayed for the whole thing. It was just a wonderful experience.”

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Cortney Casey at ccasey@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1046.