Authentic Lincolnville Street Fair:Music, food draw in crowd

Lincolnville Street Fair: Music, food draw in crowd
By JUSTINE GRIFFIN
St. Augustine Record
Created 05/22/2011 - 12:01am
Groups hold event at St. Benedict's Field to increase community feeling
Summary:

The shrill sound of electric guitars and strong smell of smoky barbecue drew many St. Augustine residents to St. Benedict's field on Saturday afternoon, for the first-ever Lincolnville Street Fair.

The shrill sound of electric guitars and strong smell of smoky barbecue drew many St. Augustine residents to St. Benedict's field on Saturday afternoon, for the first-ever Lincolnville Street Fair.

The late spring heat -- approaching 90 degrees -- didn't deter dozens of people from listening to local musicians and sampling food while sitting in the shade of old-growth oak trees.

Sandy Lenney, a St. Augustine resident and a volunteer helping at the fair, said, "Unlike St. Francis Field, this is a much more local feel. St. Francis Field is too corporate."

Many different Lincolnville-based groups came together to hold this event, including the Cyprian Center for Expressive Arts and the St. Benedict's, St. Cyprian's and St. Paul's churches.

The street fair is not to be confused with the Lincolnville Heritage Festival, which celebrated its 30th year in 2010 and is a much larger-scale event bringing in national acts.

Lenney said, "We want to have just a strong community feeling out here."

Local vendors lined the outskirts of the small park across from St. Paul's AME Church on Martin Luther King Avenue, selling everything from homemade handbags and brightly colored tutus to a slab of barbecue ribs right off the grill to homemade sweet potato pies.

Silbert Johnson, a resident of Lincolnville for 39 years, manned a large grill planted in the middle of the park for most of the day.

Puffs of smoke billowed out of the grill each time he turned over a piece of chicken or rack of ribs.

"It's been damn good," Johnson said about the turnout at the event. "Just damn good," he repeated.

Local entertainment started early at 10 a.m.

Well-known musicians in town including local stars Doug Carn, Chelsea Saddler, Billy Buchanan and Fats Lewis took the small stage throughout the day.

Music was nonstop from the morning into the early evening.

People from Lincolnville and St. Augustine drifted in and out of the park all day.

Lenney said, "We wanted to get people out here and see what the neighborhood has to offer."

She said she expects the turnout to be much greater next year.

"We only just started planning this event in the spring," Lenney said. "Next year we'll have more sponsors and we'll be serving beer and wine."
justine.griffin@staugustine.com