Karen Smith (left), Sarah Turner remove Rose Festival-themed artwork from a wall at the Main Street and Tourism office at City Hall in downtown Thomasville.

THOMASVILLE — Rained loomed and at times fell all day Friday, but officials charged with putting on the 68th annual Thomasville Rose Festival were determined the show would go on.

The rain stopped — for good — about 6 p.m. Friday. The parade was set to roll an hour later. What festival officials usually have all day on parade day to prepare, they had an hour Friday.

The biggest fear of Karen Smith, Thomasville Main Street and Tourism director, was that parade entries and spectators would not show up.

Instead, parade units were ready to go, and spectators lined the streets to watch the event, said City of Thomasville Events Director Sarah Turner.

Employees in the Main Street and Tourism office, as well as staff from other City of Thomasville departments, will gather to discuss what was good about the city-sponsored event and what needs improvement.

Said Smith, “There’s always areas for improvement.”

Smith and Turner always want “bigger and better and are never happy.”

Smith said three major gaps in the festival parade resulted when some walker groups stopped and performed at intervals. Next year, parade marshals will be posted along the parade route to keep units at a constant flow.

“It’s confusing when there’s a big gap,” Turner explained.

The locally televised festival parade had no audio at the beginning of the live telecast.

“That’s a little communication breakdown,” Turner said. “We’ll work on it next year.”

“We plan everything from the porta potties to the dignitaries’ reception,” Smith quipped.

The festival is not only a great opportunity to bring the community together, but a wonderful means to showcase the community and draw visitors, Smith said.

The result is positive economic input, Smith said. “I think over the three-day event, we had 25,000 people here — in and out,” she added. Hotels and motels were at full capacity.

“We have rave reviews from businesses and restaurants downtown that sales were great,” Smith said. “It did exactly what we wanted it to do. We want to hear cash registers ringing, and it all happened.”

Local citizens also shopped during the festival.

Families with young children enjoyed Paradise Park events. Children played on playground equipment and ate food from concessions.

Said Smith, “Children were not just there for the face-painting or the bubbles. They were there for family time.”

Turner pointed out Saturday’s perfect weather for park events, while Smith described park activities as “reflective of the community.”

Main Street and Tourism employees organize, plan and work hard to put the festival together.

“But we’ve got a while city behind us,” Smith said. “It just could not be done without everyone helping.”

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820.