By Steve Steiner
Managing editor
ssteiner@elkintribune.com

The rain kept the crowd small, but for those who came to this year's Pumpkin Festival, the precipitation didn't dampen people's moods. Those who braved the inclement weather appeared to enjoy themselves.

A number of them were seated at picnic tables set up underneath the canopy of the Wachovia Bank drive-through on West Main Street. They dined on a number of food offerings.

At one table sat Lloyd and Beth Payne and their 17-month-old daughter, Ella, who was enjoying an ear of corn. With practically every bite, she would squeal in delight.

"She sure is eating it up," said Lloyd.

After another swallow, Beth offered Ella another bite. She quickly grabbed at it.

"This is the first time she is eating corn on the cob," said Beth.

The Paynes said they have attended previous festivals.

"It's down a little, but I think it is picking up," he said.

Laurette Leagon, president and CEO of the Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce, sponsor of the festival, concurred.

"The weather has probably kept some people away," she said. "Once here, though, people are enjoying themselves."

Leagon said that this was the first time in 12 years it had rained during Pumpkin Festival.

"That's not a bad run," she said. "I also think it is having an opposite effect. In past years, things begin to wind down around 4 p.m. Today, I think more people are arriving later.

As the afternoon wore on and the clouds began to lift, it appeared as if Leagon's hopes were coming to fruition.

That was good news for a number of vendors. Earlier in the day, quite a few of them expressed concerns and doubted that they would break even

However, by 2 p.m., the size of the crowd picked up and began filling the street. The food booths in particular saw a pick-up in business.

The number of people at the craft booths also began to build and people stayed longer, rather than rush from one booth to another as they had done earlier in the day.

Larry Crews of Crews Ironworks, whose booth was on East Main Street, drew the attention of many as he hammered away of pieces of metal, crafting them into items such as nails. He would place a metal rod into a small forge. Then he would extract the rod, place it on an anvil and hammer it. Afterwards, he would dip the metal into a vat of water and repeat. When he was finished, he held up a nail he had just made. His handiwork drew exclamations of "oohs and aahs."

On East Main Street, Gurney Royall was busy churning a steaming vat of a brown concoction.

"We're making apple butter," said Royall's wife, Pam. "We have to cook it about eight hours and we have to stir it constantly."

When asked if constantly stirring was tiresome or boring, Gurney Royall scoffed.

"This is pretty easy compared to other things," he said.

Pam Royall said they have participated in every Pumpkin Festival, but this year's attendance lagged.

"I'd say it was the weather and the gas situation," she said.

One person who wasn't disappointed the crowd wasn't as big as previous years was Katrina Foster. With her she carried Munchkin a chihuahua-Jack Russell terrier mix with maybe a touch of blue heeler.

"This was better than what I expected," she said. "I guess it was the crowd. Everybody wasn't on top of each other."

As she spoke, the clouds started to lift and patches of blue sky broke through.