Calamity at the Festival

It has been a long time since I posted here and I am sorry. You might have thought I had "kicked the bucket" as my father used to say. But no. I have been quite busy with my writing group events and helping writers who call or email for assistance. This week I was asked to help someone who wanted to know how to self-publish a memoir. I gave her my best advice. Another writer wanted my help in finding an illustrator for her children's book. I am working on that.

My largest project that took lots of time was our booth at the Festival on the Square in Hayesville NC where I live. 

For a number of weeks, I asked for volunteers and organized a schedule of when they would arrive to sit at the tables and promote our writing organization as well as sell their own books. The festival lasted two days, Saturday and Sunday from 10 AM until 4:30 PM. 

Writers, Carroll Taylor and Joan Howard in pink

Saturday all was fine. We left with the tables cleared and all our stuff put away in a large plastic tub. I worked the morning shift on Sunday. When I arrived, I found our booth in shambles. The storm on Saturday night had filled the canopy of the tent so full of water that it broke the frame and the tent was almost on the ground. I stood there fighting tears not knowing what to do. I knew I could not physically move the broken tent frame. I could not reach the volunteers who had put up the tent on Friday. I just said out loud, "I don't know what to do."

Suddenly a young couple appeared and without a word to me, they began taking down the broken frame and sodden canopy. I didn't know them and stood in wonder at their ability. I kept saying thank you, thank you. 

Within a few minutes, the woman in charge of the festival, Joan, appeared and said I have a frame you might be able to use with your canopy. I wanted to say to her, I can't put up a frame. I had watched two men set up the poor broken thing that was now on the ground, and I had helped them by holding one corner.

But to my amazement, more people showed up and in no time, the old broken frame was taken away, the borrowed frame was set up and my blue canopy tent was stretched over it. It did not fit perfectly, but a man who owns an Alpaca farm jumped in to help. With duct tape, he and the young couple had a tent up over my tables and I was ready to man the booth by ten o'clock when my cohort arrived.

The young couple turned out to be vendors who had a booth near me. They were from Jupiter, Florida, and the sweetest people. At the end of the day, I took them a copy of Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers, and Fins and thanked them for all their help. They then insisted on giving me a beautiful shell from the beach.

No matter how often I hear about this terrible world we live in today, I don't believe it because people are so good to me. Somehow I always find, without even looking, good and kind, caring people. Now there were many other people who saw my problem, but the young couple and Joan and Reba who had the frame they gave me, and the Alpaca Farm owner did not hesitate to jump in to help. That is why I insist there are more good people in this country than bad. We just don't hear enough about the good.

Have a good weekend and I hope you find many good people along the way. I know you, my readers, are good folk. I appreciate you taking the time to visit here. 

Festival time in western North Carolina

Glenda Beall with writer Raven Chiong, new member of NCWN-West

This past weekend The Festival on the Square was held on the historic square of Hayesville, NC. Thousands of people attend this event each year, but everything was cancelled in 2020. The NC Writers' Network-West registered for a booth this year. Carroll S. Taylor and her husband, Hugh, volunteered to staff the booth, put up the tent and tables and take it all down on Sunday afternoon. They had a long, tiring weekend, but Carroll said she sold more books than at any other place she has signed books.

Carroll is a novelist with two young adult novels published. She recently published a picture book. Feannag, the Crow is filled with colorful illustrations by Doreyl Ammons Cain.

See more about Carroll at www.chinaberrysummer.com

Brenda Kay Ledford sits with Carroll in front of our banner. Visitors seem to take notice of the Books by Local Authors sign and wanted to take home one of our books. Brenda Kay also published a picture book recently and it, too, had colorful illustrations by Doreyl Ammons Cain

A larger photo of the booth with Brenda and Carroll at the front table.

I sat at the side table on Saturday and Sunday and enjoyed meeting people who stopped by. We wanted to show our presence in the community and encourage novice writers to join us and become a part of our group in western NC. We handed out our brochure with all our contact information and a form for joining NCWN. I expect to hear from folks who want to write and learn more about publishing.

We gave away a number of books and our anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, was popular with visitors from other states. They wanted to take home a book by western NC writers. This book is still for sale by contacting me.   www.pcncwnw@gmail.com 

I signed up to teach another writing class in September on Zoom. I will give more details later.
Hope you all had a great weekend. I am suffering a bit from sitting in that hard chair for hours, but tomorrow I will be fine again.

The ending of a bad week for the country and a good weekend for me

The  past two days have been busy but fun. I worked at our booth at the Festival on the Square in Hayesville Saturday and Sunday. 

I wish I understood why I can sit for hours talking to strangers and meeting new people with no pain in my back or my feet or anywhere although my doctor tells me not to  sit for more than an hour at the time. I thrive on meeting and talking with people. If anyone is a People-Person, I guess I am. It is a  joy for me to discuss writing and get to know individuals who are interested in writing and in books. 

Joan Gage took the major part of the work off me this year. She and her husband Rob set up the tent,  the tables and brought all of it back to my house today when the festival closed.

It was a special joy to help a woman who recently lost her husband, buy a book on widowhood that will help her deal with her grief. It is On Our Own, Widowhood for Smarties, and I have two poems in it. She came by today and told me she had been reading the book. 

I got a kick out of selling a couple of books for someone who sat there and basked in the buyers' appreciation of  the author's military service. 

Marsha Barnes surprised me with her beautiful children's book, but more so with her sales ability. She  told me she worked on the floor selling furniture at one time. Then  I understood.

If I  did nothing else this weekend, I hope I helped the  other writers see that  it is not hard to invite passersby to come in and sign up for a free book, then open a  conversation with  them. The purpose is not to sell them a book, but to engage them in conversation, and if they seem interested in the books, talk about the books. Most of the time, the passersby will  take a book with them when they leave.

Dispensing information about our writing group and making our literature available for those who might want to know more was our goal this weekend and we did that. Would-be writers  now know where to go for classes and for more information from professionals who are willing to help them.

This week I'll teach a poetry class, promote classes by others who will teach at my Writers Circle studio, and  hopefully find time to  swim a couple of times. I hope to go to  a critique group and have lunch with a friend. This week will be full and will pass too soon as all the days of my life seem to  do now. 

I will try not to  listen to the news because I can't fix anything and worrying about it makes me ill. I will live my life in a way that I hope is an example to those who fail to see that divisiveness could be the downfall of  our country. Reaching  out to  help others in whatever way you can might seem a small thing, but when we all do that, it is a large thing. 

Have a good week, my friends. 

NCWN West will be on the Historic Courthouse Square again in July

Each year our writers' organization, North Carolina Writers' Network - West, sets up a booth at the annual Festival on the Square in historic Hayesville, NC. 

Thousands of  people descend on our little mountain town for that weekend. This year it will be held July 9-10. This event is sponsored by the Clay County Historical and Arts Council. This is one busy organization throughout the year. Their devoted volunteers work tirelessly on the festival and on the Tour of Homes at Christmas plus working to bring art into the schools.

I  have  lived here for over twenty years and have attended this festival most of those years. My family from south Georgia used to come up and we would sit in the shade of the big trees on the square and listen to local musicians and singers entertain us. We ate the best bar-b-que cooked right on the site and ate ice cream, drank home-made lemonade, and visited with folks we might not  have seen in a long time. 

Visitors come from Florida, South Georgia as well as our local region. It is a wonderful opportunity to introduce this beautiful area to people who might want to retire here or open a business here. We would love to have small businesses locate around our historic courthouse square. 

Clay County has much to offer tourists who come for a vacation. We have the fabulous Lake Chatuge, a huge lake for boating and fishing. The John C. Campbell Folk School, just across the county line, has become world famous for their educational programs for crafts and music as well as classes for writers.

Not far away is the new Cherokee Casino, another Harrah's, here  in the mountains. In Hayesville, we have two community theaters and the plays are topnotch. The Peacock Playhouse is another landmark in the county. 

This year Joan Ellen Gage is our chairman for the NCWN-West festival booth. She will set up our tent with tables and chairs for our members to sit and talk with visitors about their books and about membership in NCWN West. 

We will hold a drawing two times each day, Saturday and Sunday, for books or discounts on classes.

FESTIVAL ON THE SQUARE 2016   Hayesville, NC 

Festival dates – Saturday, July 9 (10-5) 

Sunday, July 10 (10-4) 

Street Dance Friday – July 8

Families turn out for the street dance on Friday night. Elderly and children enjoy the mountain music played by a local band.

I hope to see you at the festival in July.

Let's go to the Festival on the Square

Lake Chatuge and the mountains that surround it.

This coming weekend, we will set up a booth at the Festival on the Square in Hayesville, NC where thousands of people will pass through and see fine crafts and outstanding original art by men and women from all over the south. This festival has grown tremendously since I first attended in 1995. I can't walk around the square where all the tents and booths are set up without taking home something. One year it was raining and I was not feeling well, but I did go to the festival and bought a barbecue plate to take home. 

On several occasions in the past our writing group, the NC Writers' Network West, set up a booth and many local writers and poets brought their books to sign for visitors. I furnish the tent, table and chairs but I can't take all that down town and put it up alone. This year, Joan Gage, poet and blogger and her man, Rob, will do the heavy lifting. Another writer, Deanna Klingel, will help set up and she will be in the booth all weekend. Karen Holmes, outstanding poet from Atlanta will be at the table on Saturday afternoon along with Carole Thompson who wrote a beautiful poetry book, Enough. 

The anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, will be on sale. This book contains stories, poems, essays by authors from all over our region. I am proud to have a story in this book which also contains poetry by two poet laureates and is dedicated to Byron Herbert Reece, a highly regarded mountain poet who lived in the early part of the twentieth century. 

I hope that visitors to the festival will take time to visit the shops and businesses around the square. If you like crafts of all kinds, we have Busy Hands which sells work done by many local crafts people. Be sure to drop in at the local ice cream soda fountain next door to Tiger's Department store. 

I learned today that the CCCRA, a community group that is striving to save and update our historic courthouse, is having a trash to treasures sale right across the street from the square - where the Phillips and Lloyd Bookstore used to be.

I'm taking some of my "stuff" down to be sold.

Molly and Me is a fun place to roam around and look for special items once used but ready for a new home. And don 't forget to drop in at Joe's Coffee House and Wine Shop. They will be open this weekend. Sit outside on the covered porch area or inside with your friends. 

Music rings out from the Gazebo all weekend - cloggers, fiddlers, and one of my favorite groups, The Pressley Girls, will be on hand to sing their mountain harmonies.

Whatever you do, if you come to Hayesville this weekend, 11-12 of July, come by the booth to speak to me and our other writing friends. I'll be there Saturday morning and Sunday. Our Clay County Historical and Arts Council is sponsoring this festival. Many thanks to all the volunteers who work so hard to make this festival a big success every year. 

I have been wearing a boot, not a pretty boot, for the past three weeks on my left foot. I awoke one morning to find my foot swollen and painful. I couldn't imagine what was wrong. I soaked it and the swelling subsided a little. But I went to a podiatrist and after an ex-ray he saw a fracture in a metatarsol bone. To keep my foot stable the doctor had me wear something that looks like part of a space suit. For the first few days, I tripped on the boot itself, and almost fell several times. Now which is worse, I asked myself, a fractured foot or a broken hip? After three days I could clump around the house without losing my balance. But I have come close to hitting the floor more than once. Tomorrow I see the foot doc again. I hope he will set me free so I can walk without pulling my back out with each step. We have a big, big weekend here in Hayesville. The Festival on the Square, sponsored by the Clay County Historical and Arts Association, will begin Friday night with a street dance. (Can't dance with a space boot on my foot) On Saturday and Sunday our Netwest writing group will have a booth where writers will be signing books and meeting people, promoting our group and I hope to tell some folks about Writers Circle. If you are in the area or can come for a weekend of fun, drop by and say hello. Hopefully I won't be wearing a boot.

MEMORIES ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

Thank you, my friends, my readers, for taking the time to check out this blog and for leaving your thoughts and opinions as well. I am especially grateful to those who subscribe and have my latest posts arrive in your email inbox.

I am planning to have a restful and relaxing Memorial Day weekend. I remember it was Memorial Day, 1995, when Barry and I moved here, to this house. It was a major turning point in our lives and the beginning of a completely new life for me. So much has happened to me since that time. So many happy times, and so many losses in my life since leaving my childhood home and moving to the mountains. At times I can't believe how different my life is today - how different I am now. The manner in which we accept or handle changes creates the person we become. I hope most of the changes in me have made me a better person, a better sister, a better friend and a better teacher.

I notice that I do get on the nerves of my sisters sometimes. (smile) For that I'm sorry. I wonder if they prefer me as the person I was seventeen years ago or the person I am today.

That's a good prompt to write on this weekend. Do I prefer the person I was to the person I am?

With summer upon us, we all have many things going on in our lives. I look forward to another writing class I'll teach at TCC beginning June 5, 2- 4 p.m. 
I also anticipate lots of fun when The Festival on the Square , July 13,14 is held in Hayesville. Netwest will have a booth this year. We will meet tons of folks and I hope, if you can attend, one of them will be you.