Appalachian Festival: The Ugly Ducklings

The Appalachian Festival was, as always, an event to remember. The friendly local faces, the interesting local crafts, and the classic Appalachian music ringing through the air created a perfect environment to enjoy the carnival-esque atmosphere and festivities. On this beautiful, 70 degree, and lightly breezy day, one could do anything from pet goats, purchase locally made baked goods, have a thirst quenching root beer made with local spring water, or even buy one of the many different homemade crafts for sale. These crafts included an amazing assortment of interesting homemade goods; everything from hand-spun yarn to freshly sculpted pottery being made right in front of your eyes could be found under the many canopies set up amongst the upper quad of Frostburg State University. A combination of the activities taking place, the information and history awaiting discovery, and the entertained, smiling faces of the students attending the festival made for a completely flawless experience.


The most interesting of all the crafts/stands at the festival was a stand located just outside of the Guild Center, to the right of Master Pewtersmith Robert C. Fleszar, and to the left of a stand that was selling the most delicious locally acquired honey; this was a stand selling the craft of Mr. Michael Olson. Mr. Olson was selling handmade walking/hiking sticks. Upon approaching Mr. Olson’s stand, one’s attention was first brought to the thirty-plus hiking sticks on display beside his stand. Secondly, one would notice the tools that Mr. Olsen used to create the works of art that he was selling were there with him, and that he was actually working on making one of them during the festival.

What made Mr. Olson’s craft the most interesting craft of all was not only how passionate he was about the sticks that he makes, but also the story that he tells when asked about them. He likes to refer to his hiking sticks as “Swans”. He says, “The concept is based on the children’s story, The Ugly Duckling.” As everyone knows, the duckling in The Ugly Duckling was originally an outcast and slowly blossomed into a beautiful swan. Mr. Olson views the “fallen and cast off tree limbs all over Allegany County as the ugly ducklings for his hiking sticks or swans.” Mr. Olson feels as though nature has provided him with a perfect canvas on which he can paint. Once he finds limbs worth making hiking sticks out of, he turns them into swans by “working magic and transforming them into functional tools that are pleasing to the eye as well as to the touch.”

Anyone that looked at the walking sticks that were being sold by Mr. Olson could verify the fact that they were of the top quality, and both useful and beautiful.

Not only does Mr. Olson craft hiking and walking sticks, he also constructs custom art carvings, custom small signs, and canes. He works under the name of Woodcrafts at Piney Mountain Patchworks and can be reached at Molson5491@live.com. Michael Olson is one of the many proud Frostburg residents that not only takes pride in his heritage and homeland, but also in his craft that he has so nearly perfected.