Mike Lyons, owner of Lyons Share in Downtown Fairhope, made a little game for us to play during this past weekend’s  Arts and Crafts Festival.
The popular art gallery and frame shop kept their swing full of happy festival goers. The weather was 98% perfect for this year’s festival which was a huge success.
I don’t have many photos of the actual art, because the artists have become a little touchy about photos of their work. They all thanked me for asking permission first (I was raised right), but many of them still declined. Finally, I just put the camera away. Being original and having others copy your work was a recent topic among a group of artist friends. They said it’s a tricky cross between protecting your ideas and promoting your work. Even in blogging, I hate having to take the time to watermark my photos, but you wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve found them in other places. Okay . . . that was a little side note. What do you think?
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But back to the festival . . .
Restaurants were happily busy. Overheard . . .
Donna Faye: “With all this walking, I feel so healthy, so I’ll just have a chicken salad and iced tea.”
Vonda Mae: “Good idea. Then we’ll share a Red Velvet Funnel Cake for dessert.”
Donna Faye: “And Alligator on a Stick. Don’t forget that.”
Vonda Mae: “We’ll take the Kettle Corn and Pork Rinds with us for the ride home.”
The Eastern Shore Art Center was promoting their upcoming fundraiser, “Puttin’ on the Gritz” which will be a “Celebration of all Things Southern.”  Very exciting, because costumes are encouraged. My kind of party! If you are local and need tickets, let me know and I’ll fix you up!
The gorgeous Dogwood Trail Maids were the hostesses for the day. The Arts and Crafts Festival is always the first appearance for the new group of girls and the last appearance for the old court. They are preparing to attend the Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington D.C. in a few weeks.
The families of the girls wear coordinating colors of their Trail Maid. This was the “blue” family that looked adorable. It’s always a beautiful sight to see the fluffy colors floating down the streets. When my son was little, he loved talking to these girls – and now, at 15 years old, he still likes it. Very much.
And look who I got to meet! Betty Sims and Sister Schubert were autographing their new cookbook, Celebrations from the Heart, which I will tell you more about later. It’s absolutely beautiful and the cover art was done by local and internationally known artist, Nall.
The end of the Fairhope Arts and Crafts festival always signals the time we cut off the lights in the downtown trees (that would translate to “turn off” for you out of area folks – I’m bilingual). Sometimes I wish they would stay up all year long, but it’s so exciting when they turn them on every November. The lights accompany a season of festivals, parades and parties, but now it’s time to take a break and prepare for the hot summer months.
The artists have packed up and left town, the downtown lights are off, and when I returned home I found Lois Lane frolicking in the wisteria. Spring has officially sprung.