It was raining hard. It was chilly. It was windy. It was a bad day for an ice cream festival. “Ice cream in the rain sucks,” said Justin Burnett, a senior at Oak Ridge Military Academy.The tenth annual Music Academy of North Carolina Ice Cream and Music Festival occurred Sunday, Sept. 15 in front of Dana Auditorium. Eight to ten thousand were expected to attend, but this writer only saw around 100 hardy souls braving the elements.

“We’re non-profit and this is our only fundraiser,” said Jane Whichard, Director of the Music Academy. “We rely on [the ice cream festival] for many of our operational expenses.”

A few kids banged on a drum kit in the background as Whichard and I sat on soaked golf cart cushions. We watched a dejected-looking man on stilts walk by an abandoned climbing tower and the hulking shape of a stockcar covered in tarp.

Whichard told me about the carnival scene that should have been there. She told me about the baker’s dozen of fair rides that should have been out on the lawn. She told me about the two stages that were supposed to be set up for performances by the Academy’s finest.

“They need music,” said Margaret Powell. “It would really help a lot.”

The Music Academy of North Carolina is a school here in Greensboro with an enrollment of about a thousand that teaches music to people from early childhood to old age. The Academy has had a partnership with Guilford College for over ten years; Guilford faculty member Tim Lindeman is vice-chair of the Academy’s board.

For those who just showed up for the ice cream, Coldstone’s no-show was the final straw. “I was really looking forward to [Coldstone] and was really disappointed,” said Jenny Blossfeld, a senior at Northwest High.

While visitors may not have been totally satisfied, the real loser was the Music Academy..

Their hopes for a successful fundraiser slipped away on Sunday like so much melted ice cream washed away by the rain.