Music Fans Flock To Rothbury GRAND RAPIDS, MI (Michigan Radio) - The tiny town of Rothbury in Oceana County is once again home to tens of thousands of music lovers this weekend. It's the second annual Rothbury Music Festival.

For people who live in Rothbury, the festival isn't just about the music. It's also about making some money.

Here's one of the tens of thousands of people willing to help:

"My name's Derek," he says. "But people call me Spirit Fingers."

Derek "Spirit Fingers" Pyle is from Oregon.

He spent Wednesday night in a hotel near Rothbury, and when I met him, he'd just bought a small bag of Lay's potato chips from a local church for a dollar.

"I'm all about giving them a dollar, and making them a little bit closer to making their own dreams, real, you know?" he says.

One dollar from Spirit Fingers, one dollar from the thousands of other people at the festival, pretty soon those dreams do start to look real.

And in the case of the church that sold the chips, the money will go into a scholarship fund to help local kids go to college.

Pete Dejong is helping to run the little stand for the church. He says he was worried earlier in the year that the festival might not happen. The site of the festival, the Double JJ Ranch, had to file for bankruptcy protection, and it was unclear whether the music festival would return.

"We were hoping that it would happen," Dejong says of the festival. "Just because it brings a lot of money into the community. And it's good for the community. So I was a little worried that they weren't going to have it, then we heard a few months ago that they were, so we're pretty happy that it's coming here."

This year's festival will have performances by Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and surviving members of the Grateful Dead, plus dozens of other acts.

Last year, there was some worry that all the people coming in from across the country would create problems for people in Rothbury.

Jan Kroll lives just down the road from the festival. She says the festival has been great for her.

"And we have not had a problem with any of these festival-goers at all," she says. "I mean, they're very nice, very friendly, and they pick up, they don't trash out or anything."

Kroll got free tickets to the festival because she lives near the Double JJ. She's also taking advantage of the crowds by selling handbags, t-shirts, blankets and Avon products in her front yard.

She says last year, she made about $3,000 during the festival. This year, she's hoping to make even more.
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