Matt Wilson, who is a staff member for Lakeexpo.com recently published an article about the Gathering of the Juggalos. In his article, he discusses the increase in business that the local area of Thornville, Ohio had because of the Gathering. Matt spoke with store and hotel/motel  owers and workers.

Later in the article Matt details the lack of arrests, why the Gathering had to move to Legend Valley from Crybaby Campground, and more. You can read his full article below.

From lakeexpo.com :

Insane Clown Posse event might have been worth the squeeze for the lake community

THORNVILLE, Ohio – When the hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse made a sudden about-face in February for its plans to hold the Annual Gathering of the Juggalos at the Lake of the Ozarks, some locals breathed a sigh of relief. However, with the event’s conclusion at its alternate venue outside a tiny Ohio town, reports from local businesses are painting a more positive picture of the event.

Law and order seemingly reigned and local business boomed at the 15th annual Gathering of the Juggalos, held July 23-27 at Legend Valley Musical Festival Venue.

The Village of Thornville, with a population of less than 1,000, is located 35 miles east of Columbus, Ohio. While Legend Valley has a Thornville address, it is actually located 6 miles north of the community, just south of a rural exit off Interstate 70.

Jordan Redmon, who owns the Shell gasoline station on that exit, said he enjoyed serving the Juggalos.

“They were great really nice people,” he said. “It was a pleasure having them around here. We had no problems.”

Redmon, who estimated that about 6,000 people attended the festival, said the boost in sales was appreciated.

“We did a lot better and it’s really nice to see different people – different faces – around,” he said. “We enjoyed it a lot and we were definitely a lot busier.”

Although Redmon couldn’t put a number on his increased sales figures, he was pleased enough with the additional business that he would welcome the Juggalos back again next year, should the gathering again take place at Legend Valley.

“We’d be very happy to have them here again,” he said. “It was actually really nice having them around and they were really pleasant. Overall, they were really great people.”

At the only other business located within 4 miles of Legend Valley, the Duke and Duchess Shoppe, owned by Englefield Oil, increased sales and minimal problems were also reported.

“We did a lot of good business, said an employee, who wished to not be identified. “It was probably one of the best groups we’ve had here in three years.

“The Juggalos were much better than they were portrayed to be. They were very polite and they are welcome back next year.”

The only issue the employee knew of occurred before the gates to the festival opened as the Juggalos gathered at the Shoppe, which sells British Petroleum fuel.

“Someone went in and spray painted our restroom – they wrote Juggalos across the walls of it,” the employee said. “But the person who owns legend valley (Steve Trickle) said they would paint over it.

“Other than that, these people were very polite and nice to us.”

The employee guessed that between 6,000 and 10,000 attended the festival, which isn’t unusual for the area to handle. Next month for a one-day Tim McGraw concert, the employee anticipated anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 attendees.

Despite Legend Valley providing ample camping space for the Juggalos, local hotels saw benefits from the Gathering, as well.

The closest, an 80-room Econo Lodge located six miles west of the venue, was at capacity most of last week, with many of the rooms occupied by Juggalos, according to front desk clerk Josh Oberdorf.

“Most of them were pretty polite, they paid on time and we had no problems, really,” he said of the Juggalos. “It was pretty good and it was pretty quiet.”

Oberdorf added that nothing out of the ordinary happened during the days of the festival and law enforcement was never called to the hotel.

That financial boon could have occurred at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Issues

Capt. Chris Slayman of the Licking County Sheriff’s Office, which has an operation trailer on the Legend Valley grounds for all shows held there, said, overall, the Juggalos behaved.

“We had a very successful event,” Slayman said. “We made no arrests.”

But that isn’t to say there was no mischief among the attendees.

“We did deal with a couple of naked people running around and being dumb, and had to take a couple of people to the medical tent,” Slayman said. “But we had a very positive experience.”

Slayman added that there were some minor theft reports from within the campgrounds.

“People came in and reported a wallet or something was stolen out of their tent, or whatnot – little stuff like that,” he said.

However, a dark cloud moved over the final day of the event.

Reports out of Ohio indicate that a Flint, Mich., woman, who attended the festival, died Sunday at a nearby hospital. According to The Newark Gazette, the Licking County Sheriff’s Office, which led the law enforcement both inside and outside Legend Valley, is awaiting toxicology results on Kristal Tsosie, 27.

They cite a news release, in which sheriff’s officials say Tsosie was at the concert when a family member told deputies that she needed medical attention. She was taken to the Licking Memorial Hospital, where she later died.

Family members said Tsosie did not consume alcohol or use any non-prescription drugs at the event, and mentioned that she had a preexisting medical condition. The investigation into her death continues.

Neighboring businesses reported increased sales where an estimated 4,500 to 10,000 people attended.

History

In early 2014, ICP, a hip-hop duo with a “Deadhead”-like fan base of thousands known as “Juggalos,” scheduled the event for Aug. 6-9 at Crybaby Campground, a farm on the Osage River, on Highway D in Kaiser.

The Juggalos, however, have been labeled as unruly and have been linked to crimes at concerts; the FBI has even designated the group a “loosely organized hybrid gang.”

Tickets for the festival went on sale in February, but ICP claimed pressure from the local community, as well as possible legal action by the Miller County prosecutor’s office, forced them to cancel the festival at the Missouri venue.

According to the duo, ticket sales for the concert at Crybaby Campgrounds had “far surpassed those of the past several Gatherings.” Those were refunded in full, the group said.

The annual event has garnered plenty of negative attention over the years, with reports of deviant behavior, drug use, and even deaths. From 2007-2013, the Gathering had been held at Hog Rock Campground, in Cave-in-Rock, Ill.

In a report by the Chicagoist, vendors claim Psycopathic Records, ICP’s label that organizes the Gathering, issued checks at last year’s event that bounced and still owe more than $300,000.

ICP is fighting the FBI’s gang label alongside the American Civil Liberties Union, who joined with band members Joseph Bruce (“Violent J”) and Joseph Ulster (“Shaggy 2 Dope”) in filing a lawsuit against the FBI last month.

In February, Miller County Prosecutor Matt Howard issued a “cease and desist” letter to Psychopathic Records. In it, Howard said the band’s promotion activities and sales of tickets violated state law because the group had not obtained a permit for the event, which has historically drawn upward of 10,000 people.

Howard pointed to the “largely forgotten, but catastrophic” 1974 Ozark Music Festival, which brought up to 350,000 to the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia, according to some estimates, and left a major cleanup project in its wake. In response to that festival, the Missouri legislature “imposed a robust regulatory scheme requiring licensure of any type of music festival or outdoor musical activity likely to attract 5,000 or more people which will last for more than 12 hours,” Howard wrote.

Because Insane Clown Posse and Psychopathic Records had been selling tickets and promoting the event scheduled for August 6–9 at Crybaby Campgrounds in Kaiser, and because they had not obtained a permit from Miller County according to Howard, “those actions… have been in violation of the Missouri Statutes above cited,” he said.

Howard also noted the “gang” status the FBI has designated to Insane Clown Posse’s fans—known as “Juggalos”—and pointed out that misdemeanors committed by groups with that designation may be moved to felony status under Missouri law.

Because the band’s label subsequently declared its intent to move the event away from Crybaby Campgrounds, Howard said his office would take no further action against Psychopathic Records.

Some in the Lake area expressed relief to have dodged potential problems; but as a tourism hotspot, the Lake and its businesses also dodged Juggalo dollars and the increased exposure the event would likely have generated.

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