By Clyde Noel

Town Crier Correspondent

The 2001 Los Altos Arts & Wine Festival was a cool event in more ways than the weather. Happy children packed the KIDZONE, artists were delighted with the festival attendees, and financially the event exceeded budget projections.

“Logistically, this was one of our best-run arts & wine festivals ever,” said Kathleen Byrne, executive director of the Los Altos Village Association (LAVA). “We had very few complaints from the 100,000 people attending the event, and that’s pleasing.”

Byrne said the changes in layout were effective because they opened the streets and made it easier to get around the sidewalks. They did make for longer lines at the food booths, but they also eliminated the duplication of food vendors.

Most festival complaints concerned the food booths, where people had to stand in line for more than 20 minutes to get a hot dog. All food booths were concentrated in the Central Plaza. Artists were pleased with the move because it provided more room for people to move around, and they didn’t have the constant aroma of food surrounding them.

Byrne said a survey was sent to the food vendors for comment, but not all have been returned. The official meeting of the Village Association board of directors will be held Aug. 15, when plans will be discussed for next year’s festival.

Both the Los Altos Kiwanis Club and the Los Altos Rotary Club were satisfied with the new location of the food booths. Because the booths were under the trees this year, it was more comfortable for the volunteers. Both organizations reported excellent financial returns.

In conjunction with the festival, Desiree and Paul Roth, owners of European Cobblery at First and State streets, were the winners of the Hawaii trip for best window display. The trip for two to Kauai was donated by Meridian World Travel of Los Altos and the Village Association.

With the theme being “A Splash of Color,” the Roths had their three daughters decorate the five windows of the store with multicolored shoes and socks.

“We do well at the festival. We sell a ton of sandals, clogs and socks,” said Paul. “It’s one of our best selling days.”

The People’s Choice selection, voted by festival goers, was Cranberry Scoop, at Second and State streets. A panel of three outside judges selected Eleanor Incerpi of Cupertino as the winner of the $500 shopping spree.

It was a departure from previous years to have the Hawaii trip awarded for the best window display. “It seems every year the prize would go to an out-of-town visitor, so this year we changed it to a window display award for the merchants and a $500 shopping spree award to anyone at the festival,” Byrne said.

The constant activity at the KIDZONE surprised the volunteers. The information booth chairwoman said the first thing people wanted to know at the entrance was the location of the KIDZONE.

Byrne said the show was successful because of the volunteers. They helped work out the logistics before the show, they worked hard during the show and many still found time to help in cleaning up after the two-day affair.