A May Zing!

John and Beth Fisher’s arts and crafts festival [on Saturday, May 13, 2006] seemed to go without a hitch. There were painters, basket weavers, woodworkers, blue grass performers and vendors of all manner of things, including freshly-churned ice cream.

Tables of merchandise under tents. Many vendors are artisans selling their wares. — Tent row along the south side of the gallery. Early on it was chilly and attendance was sparse, but when the day became warm…

It was a day for relaxing and enjoying the (eventually) warm Spring day, for appreciating the talents of the artists, and finding old friends. Many inspected the first new “Village of Cliffside” house—nearly finished—and talked to the builder, Cecil Houser, who proudly displayed the house’s unique flooring, of vintage maple boards from the old mill. He’ll be building about 25 more homes on these historic acres.

The old cabin, now restored and remodeled, has been moved to a spot behind the Swing's new residence. — Setting up the sound equipment for the musicians on the Cabin porch. Testing, one, two, three, four…

Many folks who had come from out of town to decorate their relatives’ graves for Memorial Day were delighted to find that a festival was underway.

There was a pony ride concession, a May Pole dance, a pastry sale and a 5-car fleet of restored autos (the oldest a 1929 Ford). Save for the brisk breeze that came along in early afternoon, causing light, unanchored objects to topple or fly away, it was a nearly perfect day.

They flocked around and through the Blue Moon Gallery and admired the hundreds of creations by regional artists, and enjoyed the blue grass groups who perfomed on the porch of the Cabin, the R. R. Haynes birthplace, now a prominent and permanent Cliffside fixture.

(If a similar event were to be scheduled just before Christmas, would they call it “A December Zing?”)