Many ‘Buzz on in’ to enjoy Palisade Bee Festival April 12

Palisade’s theme to “Buzz on in” really brought the people locally and afar to fill the streets this year as the town’s population exploded on Saturday, April 12.

 No official count, but individuals, families and groups came from Fruita, Junction, Denver, Delta, Montrose, and even Arizona for the 6^th Annual International Honeybee Festival (PIHF).

Some came for the honeybees; some came for the spelling bee; others came for the vendors’ wares while others came early to “Run for the bees,” but everyone seemed to enjoy the beautiful spring day fun.

“This year’s festival is bigger than ever,” said Chamber of Commerce Director Juliann Adams. “We have 55 booths. Last year we had 48.”

The Bee Festive Committee had a welcoming program on Friday night at the Blue Pig Gallery, for the artists, vendors, the speakers and fans of the annual event.

On Saturday a new event to the PIHF started before the downtown activities.

The Children’s Nature Center hosted the 1^st annual Zoo’BEE’lievers 5K “Run for the bees and BEE ZONE” race south of Main Street and 3^rd Street.

Again, the runners were a mixture young and old from the Grand Valley, plus a few came from Loma, Silt, Montrose, Rifle and Wolcott.

This was the first 5K for a few of them, and others were veteran runners, like Sharon Heller, a Palisade resident who measured and marked the Bee Run for this race.

“It was a good group of runners for this Riverbend Park course,” said Sharon about the course that took the runners through dirt and concrete, going down a gentle hill through a Palisade residential street into the Park, along the Colorado River and then back up the same hill to the finish line.

“It was not too much of a challenge,” Sharon said, and she should know. She has run in marathons around the world. Her favorite race was in Dubai, but last Saturday, Sharon was on her bicycle watching others following the marked path and running a good race.

The two first winners were from Grand Junction: Esmeralda Martinez with 19:16; and Joe Schoh, 19:26.

The fact that Martinez ran the fastest time with her dog on a lease and that Schoh ran in his handmade sandals was admired by the other runners and race fans.

The early event started at 10 a.m. before the booths and other scheduled events opened, but all the runners were done by 11:45, giving them time to get their awards and drawing prizes before going to the festival.

The closed streets were busy with vendors, shoppers, exhibits, and presentations. There was something for everyone interested in honeybees, bee products, and anything beelightful.

 The children’s costume judging seemed just as creative as the un-judged adult costumes that appeared in the crowd. Fruita resident Kimberlee Boulden, won for best costume

Twenty-four third graders came prepared for the traditional Spelling BEE contest, but nine-year-old David Wooten was “B” best speller.

Ray Bean, of the Palisade Insectary, was the expert speaker this year. He spoke in the library about the other insects, which are almost as important as the festival star, the honeybee.

There was plenty of information about the honored bee. The Western Slope Beekeepers Association had a booth. Several individual members of the WSBA had their business booths close by. All were educating youth and adults about the care and crisis of the vital honeybee.

Bella’s Bees, a Fruita honeybee business, is here every year since the event began, six years ago.

Maybe it was the fine spring weather, or the sweetness of the honey being given in sticks or sold in jars, or maybe it was the importance of the honeybee and other insects of agricultural significance that made this 6^th event a crowd-pleaser.

Next year might be bigger.