We printed everything newsworthy in our 14Fest article. Here's the rest of it.
It’s pretty dangerous to walk in the dark by the side of the highway after 14Fest.
I know this because a Post photographer and I tried to do it Saturday and a very flustered state trooper stopped us and told us we shouldn’t. We went back to the car, but only after the photographer snapped some pics and I interviewed some people, of course.
If you were out at 14Fest, you may have encountered a Post staffer with a camera or a pen and a notebook. If you didn’t, I blame the police for shutting down the highway and the event coordinators for charging $20 for parking.
I was inches away from getting hit by a car Saturday, but I — and the other Posties I have the privilege of working with — got the scoop. Here’s the scoop behind that scoop.
The event coordinators at 14Fest changed the game this year with their decision not to provide shuttles to The Venue of Athens on State Route 56. Instead of people trying to tip buses over as in previous years, we saw cars with makeshift signs offering rides.
The lowest price I saw was $3 for a trip one way, but several other people stopped and offered to take us for free. After we explained we were reporting, they wished us luck and exchanged a “what are these people thinking” look with their passengers before driving away. (Really, thanks for the offer. We appreciate your kindness.)
Meanwhile, on Court Street, Post reporters were out asking questions, and students were saying the same crazy things they always do.
Many of the people we talked to hadn’t secured rides for 14Fest, and they told us their wild improvised plans. One planned to just flag down a pickup truck. One put his trust in a friend, who’d gotten a phone number off the side of a U-Haul van. Some told us they ran the whole 2 miles.
Either way, their spirits were high. One Kent State senior without a plan, Cameron Kovac, told us he and his friends had been pumped “since 30 beers ago.”
I’d like to apologize to the people in an idling car on Route 56 I who I scared to death by looming out of the darkness and into their open car window with my tape recorder and questions.
I’d like to thank the lieutenant from the Athens County Sheriff’s Office who definitely noticed a Post photographer crouching and shooting his picture a couple feet behind him, but pretended not to think it was weird.
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I’d like to send my best wishes to Johnny Kellis, a very upset junior from Ohio State University who told me he lost his wallet and the $700 in it at the event Saturday.
How did he end up with $700 in cash?
“Just ‘cause I’m a boss, I guess,” he said.
Keep being a boss, Johnny. I hope you find your wallet.
It was a wild end to a wild fest season. I don’t know about you, but I’m almost starting to look forward to the quiet of finals week.
@baileygallion
bg272614@ohio.edu
