To the editor:

If you are one who stays up to date with national and international news, then you know it is mostly horrible. It can leave a person feeling depressed. Certainly it does not engender good feelings.

If you are one who stays up to date with local news, then you know that the Busker Festival, held over Memorial Day weekend resulted in lots of smiles, tons of laughter and jolly good feelings all over downtown.

The Busker Festival was the vision of one man, Richard Renner, who back in 2008, when the Great Recession occurred, decided he needed a job to do. Like many people who lost their jobs, Richard’s business suffered. It was then that he saw the need to bring some joy and laughter into the streets of Lawrence. This led to the creation and production, in 2008, of the first Busker Festival. Over the years, it has grown and become a well loved, much anticipated annual event. Who doesn’t love to see aerial acts, magic acts (pulling a $20 bill from a kiwi), jugglers, face painting and balloon creations (favorites of my little granddaughters) and so much more. Thousands of people from all over the region attended this three-day event. It seemed to me from all the smiles and laughter, that, for those three days, most people were not worried about horrible national news. We just felt good. Let the Busker Festival live on!

Kelly Schmidt,

Lawrence