Busy Photographer

This past weekend was very festive and very wet!  Our Olde Fashioned Community Christmas celebration offered lots of activities at several venues, but festival-goers also had to deal with persistent rain and blustery winds.  Weather clearly kept the crowd down.  But kids somehow manage to have fun even in the worst weather.  From their perspective the event was a great success.

Snowbirds!

My assignment — designated photographer — had me hustling from one end of the township to the other, snapping photos at every opportunity.  I've got about 350 photos which I must now make available to festival organizers and neighbors.  That's my major task for this week.  Meanwhile, I'll give blog readers a tour of the festival in this and successive posts.

Saturday morning started on a slippery note as freezing rain began falling about 9:00.  Three major accidents were reported in the area, including one which required the Jaws of Life.  Road conditions persuaded some people to stay home, including a children's choir from a Lutheran church in Alpena which cancelled their performance due to weather.  However, the streets improved after 10:00 as the temperature rose, and moving from place to place proved no problem.

Those who came out to Presque Isle found new signage at many intersections.  These directed them to the several venues and were a major improvement this year.  The black horse-drawn carriage signs proved such a hit last year that several people wanted one for use as a lawn ornament.  In fact, one was stolen!  This year the signs were installed more securely.

Attila made the carriage signs, which this year were
deeply staked and heavily wired to prevent "wandering."

Directional signage was a new and user-friendly wrinkle.

At the Presque Isle Harbor Association's (PIHA) clubhouse, a new event was the Kids' Korner.  The clubhouse lounge was tuned into a children's shopping bazaar where young folks could "buy" gifts for siblings, parents and grandparents.  These gift items, donated by local businesses and friends, could be "bought" for a small freewill donation, and then members of the Women's Club were available to help wrap the gifts.  The popularity of this event is sure to grow in coming years.

Donated items stocked the Kids' Korner gift bazaar.

Once chosen, gifts were wrapped so recipients will be
properly surprised on Christmas morning.

The clubhouse gymnasium was the site for this year's Arts and Crafts Holiday Bazaar.  More than 30 vendors turned out, offering everything from jewelry to handmade coats for the family dog.  My neighbors, affectionately known as the Lake Esau Mafia, were well represented.  Bill and Gerald manned the "whirligig" table which featured whimsical trophy animals suitable for mounting on the den wall, and Sharon and Attila hawked the official Olde Fashioned Christmas sweat- and t-shirts.

The gym was awash in handmade crafts.

Sharon and Attila hawk the festival's "official" outerwear...

...and Gerald displays a beady-eyed "kill" which only
non-hunters could appreciate.

I was pleased to find a local rock hound and jewelry maker who had a few pudding stones on display.  These rocks were mentioned in a recent blog post.  He told me that pudding stones are easily found along Lake Huron, and the value of these conglomerates is far less than some people believe.  He said he has never paid more than $1 per pound, and usually far less.  However, they are fascinating bits of local geology and, sliced into thin cross-sections, really quite beautiful.

At the rock-and-jewelry table a shopper tries out a
new Christmas bauble.

At 11:00 on Saturday the Presque Isle County Library offered a program for young children entitled "Frosty's Birthday Party."  A magician/storyteller from Flint came north to regale kids with the story of Frosty the Snowman, and to bake a magical cake for the guest of honor.  This guy was really talented.  I'm not sure who enjoyed the program more, the kids or their parents!  In any case, Frosty finally arrived and gave hugs to all the children.  Later, Frosty went outside to wave goodbye as the families drove away.  The woman who impersonated Frosty told me the costume was very, very warm and she could hardly wait to get into the chilly air!

The storyteller prepares to use a magic wand to bake a
birthday cake for Frosty the Snowman.

Frosty finally made his (her?) appearance, to the great
delight of all the children.

This morning a fine snow is falling, dusting the trees and making the area look a bit more Christmasy than it did this weekend!  I was going to split more firewood today, but perhaps I'll think about it tomorrow.  More tales of the Christmas festival tomorrow. •••