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LEE PERLMAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
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| McKenzie Ausman, from left, her mom Julie Ausman and Erica Filipetti pose at the Rossi Farms Barn Bash. After a three-year hiatus, the popular east Portland party returned. This year's announced attendance, 2,000, set a record. Mid-county Memo photos/Tim Curran |
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| This year's soirée included a Civil War artillery demonstration that annoyed many people (and at least one horse) and had some wondering what it had to with the party's theme. |
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| “Time flies when you're having fun don't it?” A Barn Bash reveler asked as he was leaving last month's Barn Bash. “Time flies when you're having fun don't it?” A Barn Bash reveler asked as he was leaving last month's Barn Bash. |
Hard numbers are a little hard to come by, Joe Rossi said at a post-event discussion because ticket sellers, overwhelmed by the number of people trying to get in, did not keep careful track of the stubs. However, Salvador - Barn Bash producer through her company Trinity Marketing Multimedia - said, with a bit of fuzzy logic, since organizers ordered 2,000 pieces of chicken for the all-you-can-eat dinner, and, by 7:30 p.m. they were all gone, 2,000 people - a new announced attendance record - is safe to claim.
Since this was a benefit, another measure of success was the bottom line for beneficiaries. Despite significantly higher production expenses this year than in years past, the net take, according to Rossi and Salvador, was in excess of $26,000. This included $10,000 from Rossi himself for “one-time” expenses such as the building of new benches, which he chose to absorb, and $2,000 from Rossi's mother Irene to pay the event's alcohol liability insurance coverage. The Rossi family hosted the event at the family farm on Northeast 122nd Avenue from 1998 to 2007 before giving it up.
Most of the money will go to the creation of Rossi's latest venture, a statue of an immigrant being installed in October on the traffic island on Northeast Killingsworth Street at 99th Avenue, with other donations as follows: $3,500 went to the Aldo Rossi/Parkrose Youth Football program; the group also volunteering at the party. In exchange for a volunteer crew from St. Rita Catholic Church doing much of the work setting up and serving the food (green and potato salads, beans, rolls and strawberry shortcake, as well as the grilled chicken), and bussing tables after, Rossi gave St. Rita $1,500. According to Rossi, a brand new Parkrose High School social service club group of volunteers, Students Working to Achieve Greatness was organized to promote awareness for Parkrose's 100-year celebration; SWAG also made many advance ticket sales and was rewarded with $2,500.
Longtime collaborator Tom Mannen and his Turkey Creek Productions put on one of his patented Wild West shows, aided this time by a group of civil war re-enactors and an artillery demonstration.
The Wild West Show came in for the few quibbles about the event. Newcomers to the Barn Bash, not familiar with the charm of Mannen's poorly amplified performers, said it was hard to hear what the characters were saying. On the other hand, a cannon fired several times during the event was not only very loud for some tastes; they also wondered aloud how the noisy demonstration related to the event. No such criticisms were made of the bands, the Crazed Weasels outside and Backstage Pass playing in an often filled barn.
There were other contributors. The Parkrose Lions grilled the chicken. The Widmer Brothers Brewery contributed half the beer sold. Mac Pac contributed two iPads, worth about $600 each. American Sani-Can loaned port-a-potties free of charge. Parkrose Hardware did the same with a group of tents, also setting them up. Sun Belt Outdoor Lighting loaned their equipment. Salvador contributed event T-shirts (you can still buy them from her at $5 each). More support came from sponsors William Bitar, Mid-county Memo and Danna Brothers' Elmer's Restaurants. Mark Gardner, Mike Treadway and Craig Flynn (Civil War reenactors and artillery demonstration) led crews of volunteers.
Several people commented that despite the amount of alcohol consumed with hundreds of inebriated partiers; a number of parking citations issued to cars illegally parked; running out of paper plates, napkins and ice cream; the grumbling about beverage prices - $5 per beer, $2.50 for a soda or bottle of water - there seemed to be no incidents of consequence. Rossi even marveled afterwards that there was virtually no litter to pick up.
So, was it a success? Supporter Luke Shepard of Umpqua Bank told Rossi, “This event is really unique, with a venue like this and such commitment to Parkrose. It's really been missed.”
Which brought up the burning question on everyone's mind: Will there be another Barn Bash next year? Rossi finally gave in and said, in his trademark aw-shucks way, “Yeah, there probably will be.”
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