
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 21, 1995                   TAG: 9506220018
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARK D. LOFTIS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GALA'S PROBLEMS WERE EXAGGERATED

IT IS shameful that the Roanoke Times & World-News has seen fit to publish letter after letter making disparaging comments about Festival in the Park's black-tie gala at the Jefferson Center. As if your reporter's misleading May 27 article (``Party proved to be too hearty'') wasn't bad enough, you have compounded the error by publishing diatribes from individuals who didn't attend the event, and obviously have no knowledge of what took place aside from the exaggerated news account you published. The event's positive aspects have been completely ignored.

The gala has long been the kickoff event for Festival in the Park, a volunteer organization dedicated to providing quality entertainment, music, arts, crafts and major sporting events to the community. This year's gala featured 18 artists who displayed their work on the second-floor hallways of the Jefferson Center. Eight musicians provided a variety of entertainment throughout the facility. At intermission, four local students were awarded scholarships from Festival in the Park, enabling the students to further their education in the fields of art and music.

Previously an outdoor event, the gala moved inside for the first time this year. Both the festival and Jefferson Center staffs were excited about the first black-tie event at the new facility. Months of planning went into producing the gala, and the committee felt confident that every point was covered. Unaccustomed to the confines of an indoor location, the gala planners were surprised how quickly available space filled up. The third floor was packed with attendees, people were jostled, and food and drinks were inevitably spilled.

The festival followed its standard procedure by providing a professional crew to clean the Jefferson Center after the event. Certainly there was a big mess to clean up. Unfortunately, there was some damage to the Jefferson Center, which the festival regrets. What your reporter failed to mention is that much of the damage was in areas where bands that played at the gala stored their equipment, rather than in occupied areas, and that all of the damage can be and is being repaired.

Regarding Warner Dalhouse's June 14 letter to the editor (``Rowdy behavior can't be tolerated'') about the cost of the cleanup: The bill forwarded to the festival by the Jefferson Center did exceed $2,000. He failed to mention that the bulk of that cost was for cleaning carpets throughout the building, an item that the center doesn't consider to constitute ``normal cleanup'' after an event.

In any event, carelessness by a few individuals hardly justifies the suggestions of ``drunken revelry'' and intentional destruction contained in your news article and in the letters you have published. The festival paid for uniformed police and security guards to work the event. At no time did they express concern about the behavior of those who attended.

Lost in the exaggerated stories about the gala are the 11 days of festival events that ran beautifully. Those who were not at the gala shouldn't criticize what they know nothing about, and they certainly shouldn't believe everything they have read about the gala in your newspaper.

Mark D. Loftis is president of Festival in the Park.

by CNB