By Maggie Downs
Enquirer staff writer

BLUE ASH - The rain drenched the hopes of Troop 299 this weekend at Taste of Blue Ash.

The annual festival, which started Friday and ended Sunday night, is the largest of three fund-raisers for the Boy Scout troop. Money raised by selling visors and glow sticks goes toward campouts and equipment.

But not this year.

"I don't think we sold a single thing (Saturday)," Scoutmaster Bob Hansen said.

After the area was pelted with rain and storms throughout the afternoon, Taste of Blue Ash organizers canceled the main entertainment, the Commodores.

"When they said there wasn't any concert, everyone left," Hansen said.

Bob Wheeler, who plays the clarinet for the Dixie Four band at the event, said crowds still weren't up to par Sunday.

"First it was the heat that kept a lot of people away," he said. "Now people are staying away in case it rains again."

The weekend's downpours also meant Karlo's Bistro Italia of Springdale and Florence had a lot of extra stuffed mushrooms on hand.

"If it hadn't rained, we would be out of mushrooms and would have made a good deal of money," said kitchen manager Jerry Rush. "Now we're sitting on an extra day's worth. I don't know if we'll break even."

The harsh rain Saturday was particularly damaging for business.

"There was no little drizzle here or there. It went from A to Z," Rush said. "A Vietnamese monsoon rainstorm came down within five minutes and everyone disappeared."

In the midst of the storm, Rush and his fellow employees had to take all their food to a refrigerated truck and wrap up the cooking equipment in protective tarps.

"It was a real big bummer," he said. "Right at the height when the people were all coming in, it rained on everybody's parade."

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E-mail mdowns@enquirer.com