Almost seven gallons of hot spiced tea and twenty dozen cookies disappeared as hundreds of visitors to University Circle Inc.’s annual Holiday CircleFest met FMC volunteers at a tent near the Covenant shuttle stop to become Tower Tourists.

We expanded from three to four CircleFest Tower Tours this year, but still far exceeded comfortable numbers for the last tour of the day—last year’s 3 p.m. tour group was about 30 persons, so this year’s big crowd was 3-4 times what we could have predicted. Our sincere apologies to anyone who gave up on that climb to the carillon. We will find a way to offer one or two additional tours next year and limit the size to maximize enjoyment for all.

Thanks to all who gave us their e-mail addresses to enter a drawing for one of three personalized Tower Tours. Congratulations to the three winners drawn by University Circle Carillonneur George Leggiero.