Dixie Day Draws Droves DowntownNORTH WEBSTER – Based on the crowd size and number of participants in the car, truck and tractor and artisan shows, Saturday’s Dixie Day downtown North Webster was deemed a success.
“An absolute success,” said North Webster-Tippecanoe Township Chamber President James Smith. “The weather has been fantastic, it’s helped out a lot. Each year the numbers have risen with the food vendors, car show and craft vendors. All the numbers are going in the right direction.”
He said the numbers are a testament to the family-friendly festival and the great weather.
“There’s something for everyone,” Smith said.
The 11th annual North Webster Dixie Day featured 30 cars and nine tractors in the car, tractor and truck show along Washington Street. Smith said there were over 50 craft booths in the artisan show. The food court featured everything from pulled pork to pizza and tacos.
Mary Sloane, of Akron, had her Crochet Critters for sale during the artisan show. She said she started making them about 10 years ago for family and friends. Some of her critters Saturday included Minions, Superman, Sylvester the cat and various animals.
Each critter takes her about a day or so to make, and she only sells them at shows after she’s made enough of them. “Not very often,” she said.
Next to some jewelry booths and the Twisted Britches Boutique was Greg Gard, of New Castle, and his wire art.
“I take a piece of wire and bend it with pliers. Then I spraypaint them with fluorescent paint so they glow in black light. I can do all kinds of things but names are my best seller,” Gard said.
He said he’s been traveling around and selling his wire work for 35 years.
Around the corner was Lisa Strombeck, of North Webster, and her sea glass creations.
She said she loves the beach and the lake and they are her inspiration for her pieces. Each one is unique and special, she said, and she tries never to make any two alike.
When he’s not a full-time farmer, Brandon Richcreek, of Syracuse, specializes in 2D and 3D plasma designs.
“I specialize in custom design and business signs,” he said. It can take him two to three weeks for one, and he’s been making them for almost three years.
“I’m fairly new at it, but I’ve picked it up pretty well,” he said.
His Facebook page can be found under Brandon by Design.
Tom Holloway traveled from Akron to North Webster to sell his scroll saw pieces. Each piece takes quite some time he said because of the many holes that need to be drilled slowly and deeply, but the biggest piece he had at Saturday’s show took two days.
“Some are easier than others, but none are really easy. The blade is really tiny,” he said.
He uses walnut, oak and cherry wood for his pieces. He said the most time-consuming of his projects were the coasters because he pours an epoxy over them. The shells in the coasters come from Texas where he winters.
Besides the hustle and bustle of the artisan fair, many people took 75-minute cruises on the Dixie Sternwheeler boat. The Dixie Boat is celebrating its 90th birthday this year.
The 11th annual Dixie Day Dash 5K run was themed “Run like a pirate, walk like a captain,”?and participants were encouraged to dress up in pirate, captain or sailor costumes.
Dixie Day is held downtown North Webster on the last Saturday of July.
