New Vendors at the Festival

We find many of the same local artisans with booths at our downtown festivals.  We have several potters who display their works and sometimes demonstrate throwing pots at the booth.  Quilters and knitters are very common as well.  This year we had several vendors new to the festival.

[You may want to click to enlarge the photographs]

This potter had not previously had a booth.

 There were two booths with sweetgrass baskets and bowls.  Most people think of these as Gullah baskets from the coast in lower SC and GA.  One of the vendors was, in fact, from Charleston, SC.  But many people do not realize that we have sweetgrass along the rivers here in the mountains.  The Cherokee have made sweetgrass baskets for centuries.  We also have river cane which is stripped for baskets as well.  It seems surprising to see stands of bamboo growing along the river in the mountains.

Lovely sweetgrass baskets

 One booth featured glass birdbaths, something I've never seen before.  They would certainly add color to your yard.

 Glass birdbaths

 Not all the vendors were new.  The ubiquitous funnel cakes and sno cones were right at hand. along with many of the "fair" favorites.

It was such a nice day.  We met lots of our friends and acquaintances strolling the street or manning the booths.

Small Town Fourth

Like most towns and cities, we have an Independence Day festival downtown.  We go down to all the festivals to look at the displays and purchase from local craft vendors.  We go down early before the large crowds.  Large crowd is a relative term in small towns.  Makes us miss the children's parade, but at least it isn't crowded.  Music filled the air and the mood was as festive as the displays.

It was a beautiful day in the mountains.  Clear with just-right temperatures and low humidity.

A view down one of the streets

 I can't believe we passed up the chance to get this mystic clay that cures most ills.

 At first we thought this was for display purposes.  But then we saw the EMTs assisting a fallen vendor.
We hope the injury was minor.

 Yes, Virginia.  We do have some Democrats in Transylvania County

 The Republican Party booth is usually very crowded.  Notice the period dress.

There was no Tea Party booth this year.  I think they lent their costumes to the Republicans.

Many of the non-profit vendors were handing out free bottles of water.  I especially like the one from the Episcopal church.  The label listed the top ten reasons to become an Episcopalian.  Number ten?  "You don't have to handle rattlesnakes."

We by-passed the festival food, amazed at the number of people eating heavy greasy food so early in the morning.  We strolled along and looked at all the displays, bought a few things and were home by 11:00.  The weather remained perfect and we had a great day.

Downtown Festival

Not surprisingly, Transylvania County celebrates Halloween in a big way.  The day begins with the Vampire Run with most participants in costume.  And all day long there are vendors, games, contests, activities and music in downtown Brevard.  We especially enjoy watching the children, most of them in costume.

This guy was moving so fast I didn't catch his full photo but I thought it was a great costume.

Only the bravest would enter the toy store (O.P. Taylor's) underneath this giant spider.

One of many Batman costumes.  He was obviously delighted to pose.

John Deere tractors for tots.  This little guy didn't even ask anyone to hold his binky.

Hunger Games quests abounded.  (Much of the action was filmed in our county.)  This was an archery target as the children tried the Hunger Games survival tactics.

The Great Pumpkin Roll began at the top of Jailhouse Hill.

(Wouldn't they roll better if the stems were removed?)

Despite the many children's activities, this little toddler was content to play with one of the cones.

I couldn't help but wonder how one distinguishes the relevant truths from the non-relevant ones.

I should have attended the services to find out.

I love going to these small-town festivities.  The folks are always so friendly.  It's nice to live a town where  several blocks in the center of town are closed to traffic so the people can party.

Our thoughts go out to those affected by the monster storm that is hitting our eastern coastal areas as well as affecting even more of our country.  Our weather here has turned winter-like overnight with high winds removing the last of the autumn leaves.  Our dogs love it and we don't mind.

Stay safe, everyone.

Small Town Festivals

Memorial Day kicks off our summer festival season.  Milwaukee had huge ones by the lakefront.  Ours may be small, but the festivals in Brevard are lots of fun.  In fact, we close off main street so many times you really need to know the detours if you want to travel through.  On the other hand, why would you want to travel through and not stop?

Our two largest festivals are the White Squirrel Festival held on Memorial Day weekend and Halloweenfest (since we are in Transylvania County).

Folks and vendors on Main Street looking West.

Two of these guard our really cool toy store.

(Its name is O.P. Taylor's.)

A new booth at the festival.

The Transylvania Tea Party

This little guy is 21 months old.

And yes, he could put up his feet and coast on it.

The Transylvania County Court House

at a surprisingly quiet moment.

The wreaths in honor of our war veterans.

Looking east on Main.

There are always activities for the children and a big White Squirrel Soapbox Derby down jailhouse hill.  Lots of young people build and race their cars.  We have separate races among the various downtown merchants.  They really go all out.

I go to all these festivals and love every one.  In Milwaukee we tended to avoid them because of the huge crowds.  At our festivals we have plenty of room to walk, to stop and to socialize.  Best of all...I have never once had anyone spill a beer on me.  If you want to experience that, go to Milwaukee's Summerfest.  The music is fantastic, the fireworks are among the best, but the crowds are loud and often obnoxious.  And occasionally you can catch the waft of smoke from the weed smokers, smoking grass on the non-seated grassy section of the amphitheater.  A good thing or a bad thing...just depends.

Fine, call me geezer.  That's why I live in the quiet mountains.

Halloween in Transylvania

When your county is Transylvania you expect Halloween to be a big celebration.  And so it is.  The Halloween Festival brings vendors to our town in large numbers.  There are many activities for the youngsters and plenty of good food.

Saturday was the day of the festival this year.  Mother Nature did not cooperate.  The day was unseasonably cool and periodically the wind gusted to a miserable index.  Many of the vendors stationed volunteers to hold the tent poles when they took the tents down.  Scarves and other knitted or quilted items were removed from the displays before they blew away.  There were few children when we arrived and some of the vendors were deciding the sales would not be sufficient in this weather so they were packing up to leave.

The shops went all out with decorating and most of the shopkeepers were in costume.

 This is Jailhouse Hill.  Later in the day the children would roll pumpkins down the hill.  Most children brought their own pumpkins although some were available for purchase.

 Looking east on Main Street.  The crowds were sparse.

 The lanes were empty at the pumpkin bowling area.

 Looking west on Main Street.  Several vendors had already packed up to leave.

We did not purchase anything from the vendors this year.  We were sorry so many of our favorites were not there.  We were even sorrier that the children's fun was cut short by the wind and chilly weather.

It could have been a lot worse, though.  At least we did not have the paralyzing snowstorm that hit so much of the mid-Atlantic states.

Close off the Streets and Dance!

Many mountain towns have street dances primarily to entertain the tourists and encourage them to shop downtown in the evenings.  They are usually Fridays and Saturdays...a peak time for tourists.

Brevard has street dances and while tourists are certainly welcome, the participants are primarily year-round residents.  Some of the people are really dressed up while others are more casual.  Our street dancing is held on Tuesday evenings.  Many people come to dance and others bring their chairs to enjoy the music and watch.  Young and old, folks just grab a partner and wait for the music to begin.

The two people with the blue tee shirts at the center of the picture are volunteers who will teach the square dance steps to anyone who needs a little help.  You have to love the variation in age.  Folks in their "senior" years dancing right alongside much younger folks.

 

The children make their own little group.

The bluegrass band and square dance caller.  They have a jug for donations, the only pay they receive.

Winding up that ball of twine gets a little confusing, especially for the children.

This little sweetie saw my camera and yelled, "Me next.  Me next."  She was delighted to see herself in the digital display and and yelled to her Granpa to come and look.

Main street is blocked off at the Courthouse Square in the center of town.  No, the camera is not at an angle.  The streets are hilly in the mountains.

This little girl really put her heart and soul into the dancing.  And yes, all the children in the mountains are above average and have curly hair.

This old geezer  older gentleman was eating, drinking sweet tea, smoking cigarettes and occasionally watching the dancers.  He was short of breath so in between smokes, he put on his nasal canula for his oxygen.  He had a beautifully carved walking stick on the table.  I don't know if the man across the table from him is a relative or a caretaker.  I didn't dare try to get a better photograph.  Something about the older gentleman's behavior made me feel he wouldn't like it very much.

The street dancing will end all too soon as summer wanes.  Our public schools will start next Monday.  Who knows where the time goes?  In Brevard we have danced the summer away.

A Major Festival

Always held during Memorial Day weekend, the White Squirrel Festival  brings the town folk and visitors together.  While we are known as the "Land of the Waterfalls," we are also famous for our white squirrels.  White squirrels (not albino) make up 37% of the gray squirrel population in town.  You can read more about them here.  The White Squirrel Festival is the second largest festival of the year, exceeded only by the Halloween Festival.  (We are, of course in Transylvania County.)

The streets are closed off and various vendors set up tents and booths along the street.  Many free games are set up for the children and the festival is always entertaining.  We almost always find some crafts that we must have.

A view from Main Street

 While there are various white squirrel runs and other games to play, the White Squirrel Derby tops them all.  There are many divisions for the soap-box derbies and many people have worked all year on their cars.  Various businesses enter the special derby for shop owners.

Looking down Jailhouse Hill where the cars will race.  No matter that the jail is no longer in the courthouse, we still call it Jailhouse Hill.

 You can purchase almost anything with a white squirrel on it.  Or simply purchase a stuffed toy.

A parking lot is set up for skateboarding.  This very agile three-year-old plans to take his scooter down one of the ramps.  He is not old enough to be in the area and I'm not sure who was supposed to watch him.  It was hard for me not to tell the little guy he probably shouldn't do that.   He fell on the way down, got up to see if anyone saw him.  Then he went to the ramp again.  I stopped watching.

One area had dozens of hula hoops and everyone seemed to have her own style.  I say "her" because I did not see one adult male pick up a hula hoop. 

I must confess that I do not particularly like people dressed in animal costumes.  I don't like the mascots for college ball games, I don't like costume parties, and I especially don't like clowns.  So you can imagine this costume head freaked me out.

It's amazing that I could hold the camera still long enough for a photograph. 

 I fear that some children might have nightmares after seeing this freaky head on the table.



That's more like it.  (Although in truth I didn't want to get anywhere near it.)

(This photograph from 2010 in "Mountain Express)

You may notice the people in the photograph have squirrel tails, ears, and whiskers.  They lost the record they won in 2010 for the most people dancing in white squirrel costumes this year.  Perhaps we should have stayed longer and participated.  Or maybe not.

Another weekend of small-town fun in the mountains.

Life in a Small Town

Life in a small town is never better than on patriotic holidays.  Brevard is a small town with a population of fewer than seven thousand people.  So when we celebrate a holiday we simply close off the streets and people walk toward the courthouse which sits in the middle of town.  There is friendly conversation among strangers as we gather.

Transylvania County Courthouse

Presentation of the colors

Special seating for our WWII veterans.

We all joined together to sing our National Anthem.  We were led by a lovely soprano who did not feel the need to personalize it to suit her style and make the song "her own." We sang it as it was meant to be sung.  (Well, perhaps we weren't meant to strain so hard on those high notes at the end.)  Salutes from those in the military, hands across our hearts from the rest of us.  Every single person paying rapt attention, perhaps standing a little taller than usual.  What a wonderful feeling.

We had the usual number of speeches, some inspirational, some far too long, but all delivered with pride and enthusiasm.  There is something so intimate about celebrations in a small town like ours.  The crowd included several men and women in military uniform and I often saw complete strangers walk up to shake their hands and thank them for serving our country.  Little children carried small American flags and nearly everyone was wearing a poppy.  Life is so good in a small town.

  I hope you and your loved ones are safe this Memorial Day.

In the words of Thomas Moore:

Peace to each soul that sleepeth;

Rest to each faithful eye that weepeth.

Summer Kickoff

Among many other things, Memorial Day signals the official start of the tourist season in Transylvania County. In addition to honoring the lives of veterans, Brevard hosts the White Squirrel Festival every Memorial Day weekend.

I have previously written about the Brevard white squirrels here. Regular readers know my feelings about squirrels, so I will not elaborate. We have official mascots for the festival. Being a person not fond of any mascot costumes, I am naturally not at all fond of the white squirrel.

The festival runs for two days and includes various vendors selling their wares.

In addition to the "main" musicians, there are groups all along the sidewalks playing for the public.

Potters and other artisans demonstrate and display their work.

The streets are packed with people of all ages.

There are two Squirrel Box Derby races. One is for the kids and one for the local merchants.

Jailhouse Hill (yep, that's what we call it) is blocked off for the running of the Squirrel Box Derby.

This year the White Squirrel Festival set a world record for the most people dancing in white squirrel costumes. People were invited to dress in costume (at minimum a tail, ears, and whiskers) and dance for five minutes. You may think this is such a silly record to break. After all, how many people actually try for this one? Truth is, it's not the record that is important. The entry fee for dancing was two cans of food. So one of the local food pantries, the Bread of Life received a very large stock of food. And, yes, the record was broken and officially belongs to Brevard NC.

NOTE: All of the above photographs came from area newspapers. Alas, I did not go downtown for the festival. There's just something too creepy about all those squirrel costumes.