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Health & Fitness

A successful event doesn't always pay off right away

Does every event have to be one of our big parades or the Peddlar's Fair in order to be a success?

Downtown Benicia was buzzing with activity this weekend, though many were not impressed with the results. Counted among those skeptics were frequent Patch commentator Bob Livesay and numerous merchants who said the events seemed to do nothing for their business over the two days.

Granted, the crowds attracted by Main Street's Marche Benicia promotion on Saturday and the Taleo Racing Criterium bike race Sunday were small in comparison to the Peddlar's Fair or Torchlight Parade.

I admit I am puzzled, though, by those like Livesay who use that criterion to slam the efforts made to stage the events.

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Benicia is certainly no hotspot of French culture the rest of the year, so the third annual Marche Benicia has its work cut out for it to create a tradition that attracts more than a middling crowd.

The cancan dancers, wine and crepes cafe and French music were nonetheless a terrific accompaniment Saturday to a return to our typically beautiful late Spring weather.

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And there is no question that the bike race course and resultant street closures reduce the chances for many First Street merchants to access potential customers who visit the downtown on race day.

I think the bigger picture was summed up by a more enthusiastic new First Street merchant, Stan Houston of ABC Music, who knows a thing or two about the challenges of marketing our little town to the rest of the Bay Area and the world.

"The idea is to lure them back and quit looking at the cash register," he said Sunday of the disappointing sales experienced by his and other stores during the day of racing. "You don't measure success one day at a time."

To that, I would add that you don't even measure it strictly by the size of the crowd, as Mr. Livesay did in his comment. Not every event has to be the Peddlar's Fair's thousands of shoppers descending on First Street.

What Benicia's tourism program has strived to do is brand our downtown as a place where it is fun to spend time and where fun things happen. You do this by taking a theme -- such as a sporting event or holiday or interesting culture -- and building a day around it, year after year.

Then, people searching the local event calendars or the Internet learn about something happening here and head for the 780 freeway to check it out.

And on that scale, I would say the weekend was magnifique!

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