The City of Jasper and KnowPickens.com
MAIN STREET MANIA
June 12, 2010

Some Like It Hot and Main Street Mania Didn't Disappoint

The 2010 Main Street Mania series in downtown Jasper, Georgia kicked off on June 12th with entertainment by Blind Five O playing Blues, Oldies and Classic Rock. Attendance was lighter than past events and was most likely due to the hot, humid weather and minimal advertising. For those that did attend, cooling off was easier with the snow cones for sale to raise funds for JYSA (Jasper Youth Sports Association). Many also took a break from the heat and walked to nearby restaurants for dinner, drinks, and ice cream.

Main Street Mania was started in 2008 by the City of Jasper and this year, KnowPickens.com partnered to help organize and promote the event. Plans for the first Mania came together late because they wanted to do something a little different, but it wasn't feasible with the limited time before the event. With three remaining Manias, the August and October events will feature one band and the September one will be similar to a music festival with multiple bands, stages, and vendors.

Blind Five O performed many familiar tunes that easily persuaded young and old to get out and dance. Bryanna Little, age 12 has attended every Main Street Mania and held her own against adults and caught a free band T-Shirt that was thrown out in between music sets. She also managed to get it signed by all the band members.

Normally, there's a simple Jumping Castle for kids, but this one was highly favored because it was larger with an obstacle course and slide. Parents frantically tried to get it back up one time when it lost air; this is a regular occurrence with inflatables. JYSA manned the course, snow cones, and candy sales with the funds going towards their helmet drive.

Many mixed up the evening by hanging out at Mania and then dining at 61 Main, Jasper Café or The Crust. A group of women repeatedly visited The Crust for Pat's Long Island Ice Tea and enjoyed the tunes of TJ McArthur & DJ on the Bongos on the patio. Dorian Duncan and Karolina Kearns gave their snow cones to their dads so they could get Birthday Cake ice cream from The Cream.