"The Appalachian Festival: A time to Laugh, Love, and Live "

   By: Tanisha Hamilton, ENG 336.002

      Today, September 15, 2012, the city of Frostburg had its residents, students, and vendors come together to celebrate part of its Bicentennial celebration, as well as, its seventh annual Appalachian Festival! Frostburg is proclaiming its 200^th year as a small town in Western Maryland with the help of the Festival bringing in numerous crowds from many different age ranges. The upper quad of Frostburg State University was filled with musicians, vendors, students, residents, and several dogs! Everyone was enjoying themselves, laughing, talking and sharing stories. Many people can learn a lot from simply attending the annual festivals and talking to different people. 

     I had the privilege to meet many vendors and ask them about the specific things that they do. Some had very interesting stories while others brought their children to help because they were swarmed with so many customers. The first vendor I spoke with, Andrea Lay, is an herbalist. She was very busy with customers so she had her children, Zack and Zoë Lay, provide me with background information on how she became an herbalist. Their mother was always interested in plants as a child and pursued plant growing as she got older. Mrs. Lay grows many plants including tea, silk, and herbal plants. The tea plants are apart of a tradition to help cure colds and to simply help relax the body. Mrs. Lay also grows specific herbal plants such as “Comfrey” to help cure bruises and rashes. The children seem very proud of their mother and her ability to grow such amazing plants. I asked them if they see themselves following in their mother’s footsteps and Zoë replied, “I love what my mother does but I don’t see myself doing this as a hobby or professionally.” Although the children don’t wish to pursue plant growing, the family bonding was very beautiful.

      As I walked through the tents I spotted a knitter, Sarah Riffey, as she presented many hand knitted items such as scarves, hats, and bags. She explained to me that this was her third year vending at the Appalachian Festival and she enjoys seeing the smiles on the customer’s faces when they buy her hand knitted items. Riffey knits as a hobby and it’s something that she likes to do in her spare time. She learned the fundamentals of knitting from family members and other knitters but afterwards she taught herself how to knit different items using different strategies of her own. “Seeing how happy my customers are when they buy my knitted hats brings a lot of joy to me.”

     Exiting the tents, I noticed some very beautiful paintings. However, I was told by the folk artist, Gloria Garrett, that these particular paintings were not done by paint or any type of artistic utensil. The paintings were made using women’s make-up! Ms. Garrett explained that she had no training in creating art using make-up and in her home town of Baltimore, Maryland; she is called “The Mother of Make-Up Art”. Garrett’s artwork expresses multiple things such as: religion, emotions, and music. She enjoys painting people who are outside engaging in activities because she loves to be outside doing fun things herself. The bright and bold colors in her artwork express happiness and joy, reflecting the beautiful lifestyles of people all over the world.  Some of Ms. Garrett’s paintings are in the American Visionary Art Museum for folk artists located in Baltimore, MD. Folk Artists are people who have never been trained to do a specific type of artwork.  Garrett also makes wallets made from recycled chip bags. She says, “I am very fortunate to have people donate make-up for my artwork because if they didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to afford the supplies for my art and there would be no paintings.” You can see and find out more about Ms. Garrett's artwork by visiting, http://gloriasart.com/ . 

     After talking to the wonderful vendors at today’s event, I learned the value of family bonding, making others happy, and how much donating items can help others. I was very pleased with the lessons I learned and I hope that everyone who was unable to make it to this year’s festival will make it out to next year’s event. You will not be disappointed and you will definitely learn a thing or two, such as square dancing! After trying it out, I learned that practice makes perfect! Next year’s Appalachian Festival is already calling, will you be there? I know I will be.