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Sunny Bath draws artists and crowds
By NIKIE MAYO, Staff Writer
Bath Fest encouraged residents and visitors to slow down on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and enjoy the natural and historic bounty in the state’s oldest town.
The afternoon at the Bonner Point waterfront included displays by area artisans, selling wares from watercolors and baskets to duck decoys, jewelry and pottery. There were hands-on activities for the kids, as well as Colonial-era demonstrations and costumes to kick off Bath’s Tourism Week Open House.
The arts-focused Fest was the first, replacing the old Bath Fun Days but remaining true to the goal of drawing out the locals and drawing in the visitors for a celebration of the 300-year-old town.
“We felt like Fun Days had kind of played out. We had a committee that wanted to do something to bring people into Bath and to showcase the town,” said a spokeswoman at the Historic Bath visitor’s center.
Bath resident Jennifer Taylor said she thought the festival was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
“Anything that brings our community together is good for us,” she said. “These kinds of things put us on the map for other people and let them see how creative our local folks are.”
“I wanted to bring my sister here and show her what we have. She’s from out of town.
“To be honest, I didn’t know how creative some of my neighbors were. There’s a lady down there who does quilting that I didn’t know about. There’s a lady I’ve known forever who makes pocketbooks and I never knew it. There’s a lot of talent in Bath.
“You know, this gives us a chance to sit down and catch up with each other,” she said. “We get so busy with work and with life and this gives us a minute to prop our feet up, enjoy the weather and the water and just relax and see how our neighbors are doing.”
Her daughter, Shana, was painting nearby.
“She loves this. And we couldn’t have asked for a better day to do outdoor things,” Taylor said.
Pete Dunn, a Washington carver who offered wooden birds and Santa Clauses at his tent, said he began his trade out of necessity.
“After my second divorce, I decided I couldn’t afford to buy my family anything for Christmas. I had to learn how to do something,” Dunn said.
Dunn uses tupelo — the base of the gum tree — to make his works of art.
He says a piece like his burrowing owl can take as long as six months to finish.
Stuart Aronson and some of the cast of “Blackbeard: Knight of the Black Flag” sang a few signature tunes from the play that he wrote.
“I’ll Go No More A-Rovin,” the story of the pirate’s encounter with a beautiful woman, drew plenty of laughter from the crowd that gathered beneath shade trees.
The play begins its run June 29 at the Ormond Amphitheatre in Whitepost, about two miles west of Bath.
Vicki Phelps and her husband George offered free samples of their homemade jams and jellies.
They grow blackberries at their Louisburg home, then press out the seeds and transform the fruit into “the best stuff you can find in a jar,” George Phelps said.
“It’s not something you can buy in a grocery store,” he said.
They also make strawberry jam and apple jelly using homegrown produce.
“We use 100 percent berries, sugar and fruit pectin. We don’t use preservatives and we don’t spray our berries with any crazy chemicals while they’re growing,” George said.
It takes about 45 minutes for a 20-jar batch.
“The secret is fresh berries and the right amount of time and stirring. My husband can stir a pot as good as I can,” Vicki Phelps joked.
The afternoon at the Bonner Point waterfront included displays by area artisans, selling wares from watercolors and baskets to duck decoys, jewelry and pottery. There were hands-on activities for the kids, as well as Colonial-era demonstrations and costumes to kick off Bath’s Tourism Week Open House.
The arts-focused Fest was the first, replacing the old Bath Fun Days but remaining true to the goal of drawing out the locals and drawing in the visitors for a celebration of the 300-year-old town.
“We felt like Fun Days had kind of played out. We had a committee that wanted to do something to bring people into Bath and to showcase the town,” said a spokeswoman at the Historic Bath visitor’s center.
Bath resident Jennifer Taylor said she thought the festival was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
“Anything that brings our community together is good for us,” she said. “These kinds of things put us on the map for other people and let them see how creative our local folks are.”
“I wanted to bring my sister here and show her what we have. She’s from out of town.
“To be honest, I didn’t know how creative some of my neighbors were. There’s a lady down there who does quilting that I didn’t know about. There’s a lady I’ve known forever who makes pocketbooks and I never knew it. There’s a lot of talent in Bath.
“You know, this gives us a chance to sit down and catch up with each other,” she said. “We get so busy with work and with life and this gives us a minute to prop our feet up, enjoy the weather and the water and just relax and see how our neighbors are doing.”
Her daughter, Shana, was painting nearby.
“She loves this. And we couldn’t have asked for a better day to do outdoor things,” Taylor said.
Pete Dunn, a Washington carver who offered wooden birds and Santa Clauses at his tent, said he began his trade out of necessity.
“After my second divorce, I decided I couldn’t afford to buy my family anything for Christmas. I had to learn how to do something,” Dunn said.
Dunn uses tupelo — the base of the gum tree — to make his works of art.
He says a piece like his burrowing owl can take as long as six months to finish.
Stuart Aronson and some of the cast of “Blackbeard: Knight of the Black Flag” sang a few signature tunes from the play that he wrote.
“I’ll Go No More A-Rovin,” the story of the pirate’s encounter with a beautiful woman, drew plenty of laughter from the crowd that gathered beneath shade trees.
The play begins its run June 29 at the Ormond Amphitheatre in Whitepost, about two miles west of Bath.
Vicki Phelps and her husband George offered free samples of their homemade jams and jellies.
They grow blackberries at their Louisburg home, then press out the seeds and transform the fruit into “the best stuff you can find in a jar,” George Phelps said.
“It’s not something you can buy in a grocery store,” he said.
They also make strawberry jam and apple jelly using homegrown produce.
“We use 100 percent berries, sugar and fruit pectin. We don’t use preservatives and we don’t spray our berries with any crazy chemicals while they’re growing,” George said.
It takes about 45 minutes for a 20-jar batch.
“The secret is fresh berries and the right amount of time and stirring. My husband can stir a pot as good as I can,” Vicki Phelps joked.
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tunne rat wrote on Jul 6, 2009 8:55 PM:
that is the biggest propganda word that every came out of butterfields and rino jones mouth in the past hundred years .
just 2 water boys for the obama socalist party , and a hand full of red necks that dont have a clue about whast they are talking about . "