Give the City of Auburn giant kudos for Saturday's near flawless event.

With the weather cooperating and a national superstar in attendance, the first Founders Day was a smashing success for a city that could always use a good reason to celebrate.

While clearly the city staff and volunteers did a great job pulling off the event - there are a couple who stand out.

Both Auburn Mayor Michael Quill, who handled the ceremonial side of the event with style and class, and City Manager Mark Palesh, who came up with the idea of Founders Day, both made the pre-planning and the day work.

They, along with their staffs, especially Laurie Turo and Em Boyce of their offices respectively, as well as City Clerk Debra McCormick fielded endless calls from the public, press and those who wanted special access with great tact.

One non-government employee also stood out - Sheli Graney, the relatively new executive director of the Cayuga County Arts Council, took on the task of planning not just one event, but a whole slew of them, that started at different times and were aimed at different audiences.

Her team was also not just a pro-forma ceremonial group - even during the event they were addressing issues as the day progressed, so as to make sure things ran smoothly. One can only hope that the team sticks together as they start planning next year's event starting this week.

Whether you liked the idea of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin coming to Auburn this past weekend or not, there was one upside of Founders Day that few can debate - the city of Auburn, in poor English parlance, “cleaned up real good.” A number of cosmetic municipal projects got done, from clearing up Seward Park and fixing sidewalks around City Hall to sprucing up the gazebo across the street.

As we all know, there is nothing like having guests coming to have us clean up things that have long been in need of attention on one's to-do list.

It should also be noted that the closing off of Genesee Street for the day, for a block party, seemed to go off without a hitch and looks to be a model that can be replicated on a regular basis throughout the summer. Unlike previous events that have been handled by one vendor, a multi-vendor approach seemed to be a solution that brought visitors downtown and kept many there until the last note was played by Joe Whiting on the Showmobile at 10 p.m.

Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be contacted at cozguytho@aol.com