The rain Friday night that put an initial damper on the opening of the Union City Fall Festival gave way to smiles, laughter, entertainment and fun Saturday as the along the parade route and on to Shannon Mall where thousands gathered.

"I thought the fall festival was the greatest. It started out pretty slow with the rain Friday but it turned out to be a beautiful day on Saturday," said Mayor Ralph Moore. "I think we probably had some of the largest crowds ever. I saw a lot of happiness on a lot of children's faces."

Parade Grand Marshal and former Atlanta Brave Marquis Grissom was joined by city elected officials and a host of entries that made their way from the old Wal-Mart site to the I-85 side of Shannon Mall. And at the mall, the entertainment continued with more performances by bands from Creekside and Tri-Cities high schools and Bear Creek Middle School.

One of the many city employees working to help make the many venues of this year's festival a success was new City Administrator Terrell Jacobs. In his assessment, the initial rain did not dampen the spirit of the event.

"The festival was a great affair," Jacobs said Monday. "We had a large amount of participation and I look forward to next year."

Working both on the stage Saturday and behind the scenes to put the festival together was the festival committee chairman, Union City Police Chief Mike Isome.

"It was very tiring but it was very rewarding," Isome said Monday night outside City Hall, reflecting this and previous festivals spanning a decade. "This was my fifth year in a row of being the chairperson of the committee. The festival is getting bigger and bigger every year. Because of the success we've had in other festivals people are looking forward to the event and we're having people come