From jewelry to funnel cake, fest offers fun

From jewelry to funnel cake, fest offers fun
By BROOKE J. SHERMAN
Star-Gazette

ATHENS – Despite the clouds and wayward raindrops, hundreds filed through the annual Athens ArtsFest on Saturday, taking in the sights, sounds and smells.
Vendor Joe Kane sat under his tent in the field outside Rowe Junior High School, covered from head to toe in a warm sleeping bag, with only his Panama hat and sunglasses peering from the covers.

“We’re cold, but we’re here,” he said with a laugh. “It’s so cold, people don’t even want to stop and look.”
But some people did stop and carried their purchases about with joy, like Rose Mint of Waverly.

“I’m a jewelry person, and I like unique things,” she explained as she showed off her purchases from two jewelry vendors.

Mint visits the ArtsFest every year and marveled at how it continues to grow.

“I love it. It gets better and better every year,” she said.

Tom Blumer, with Two Sisters, a jewelry design vendor, said the “Remember Mother’s Day” signs were helping people consider gifts for moms for Mother’s Day next weekend.

“There are a lot of gifts being bought,” he said.

There was also a lot to entertain the young ones, such as Brock Slatterly, 4, who was busy getting his face painted with the Batman symbol.

His sister, Rachael Slatterly, 13, watched and said she looks forward to the festival for the funnel cake.

Jeannine Duncan, a teacher at Rowe Junior High, has volunteered with the festival for several years.

She paused briefly Saturday, as she sped from tent to tent giving vendors breaks, to add another layer of clothing and wrap a blanket around her shoulders to keep warm.

“I think, looking at the parking lot, that we’re doing fairly well, despite the cold and clouds,” she said.