Town of Madison’s Taste of the Mountains is Saturday

By Aerin Curtis Media General News Service

Even those long familiar with September’s Taste of the Mountains can find new offerings in the 2009 edition of the annual downtown Madison street festival.

The project, which takes almost a year to put together, according to the Madison Chamber of Commerce’s Tracey Williams Gardner, is set for 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 5 on Main Street.

“It’s like planning a big wedding every year, a really really big wedding,” said Gardner, who annually coordinates the event.

Musical acts offered

On a purely organizational note this year, there will only be one stage, by the Madison County Library, due to the renovations at the Madison County Courthouse. This has caused several of the musical shows to be shortened, so that they can all be included. The musical line up includes several names that will be familiar to annual attendees including Second Time Around, Scuffletown, Frank Necessary, David Leckie Gilmore, Dark Hollow bluegrass band and Wild Olives. 

In spite of this, there are several musicians who will be playing out of booths. New to the festival this year is Karen Yanchunis, who runs Krafted Karma and who will display her skill on the mountain dulcimer along with her handmade jewelry, weaving and soap at booth 155.

“I’m very excited for the festival, it should be lots of fun,” said Yanchunis. “The dulcimer is a uniquely mountain instrument.”

The Florida native credits a move to North Carolina as the impetus behind her study of the mountain dulcimer. “I just fell in love with all the mountain crafts,” she said. She has continued this passion after moving to Virginia by continuing to attend craft festivals and beginning to write original songs for the dulcimer. She said she is waiting for a “test audience” before performing them in public.

New vendors

The number of booths this year, 180, will be the same as 2008, though some of the venues have changed. Newcomers this year include former Rochelle resident James Herndon, the author of “Jack’s Shop: Beyond the Front Porch” in booth 89; and the art gallery and coffee shop run by Janine Jensen and Lisa Warren, respectively located across the street from Madison Drug.

Among the more unusual new venders is Ken Folk, 113, who will give a demonstration on bonsai tree trimming and selling the miniature trees. He said he often does similar festivals to demonstrate the art of bonsai and the process involved in creating the different trees. He uses native trees to attempt to create a “scale model of an older tree.”

After the shaping demonstration the tree has to grow for several months to a year before the shape is established, said Folk “It takes several years for the full effect.”

He started working with bonsai trees in his native Pennsylvania and continued the hobby when he moved to the Harrisonburg area, where he runs a greenhouse. 

“I always like doing shows, talking to people, explaining what we do and finding more enthusiasts,” he said.

Susii Key of Mountain Seal Studio will display some of her work in booth 59. This is her first time attending the event. A portrait artist, she specializes in pastels and pencil work that gives her work a self-described “dream-like” quality.

“My pictures are meant to be a memory – when you look at them you’re meant to go back to that memory,” Key said. “They are very realistic, but meant to capture the feeling of a person and not focused so much on the realistic photographic look.”

Windrose Trading Company, a Madison-based importer and wholesaler, will display a selection of jewelry, fair trade crafts from India and Nepal, as well as Triloka incense, at booth 28. Though the company does sell its products locally through The Music Store in Ruckersville and in Charlottesville Whole Foods, Rebecca’s Natural Foods and Quest Bookshop. This is the first year it has been actively involved in the festival.

“We got a new owner, Jim and Cindy Sanders, in 2007 and they’re interested in being more involved with the community,” said customer service manager Kristin Painter.

On a slightly different note, Pippin’s Rescue, 77, has elected to bring a handwriting specialist along this year for anyone who wishes to have handwriting analyzed. The woman has worked for the F.B.I. and various police organizations, said Gardner.

Phil Ringenbach is bringing a new booth especially for the younger members of the crowd. His booth, 20, is Paint Me! Paint Me! It offers a selection of plaster crafts and puppets to be decorated there and taken home. 

These and the returning vendors will both be involved in making this year’s Taste of the Mountains unique and competing for two coveted awards available. The title of best crafter and best overall – the winner receives a free stall for the next year and an engraved plaque.

Parking options available

No specially designated parking is available in downtown Madison during the festival. A free shuttle bus service will be provided running from the free parking at the Madison County High School to downtown Madison. The exception is the handicapped parking at the Old General Store that being run by the Madison Free Clinic Inc.

For information call (540) 948-4455 or visit http://www.madison-va.com.

What: 17th annual Taste of the Mountains street festival.

When: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5

Where: Main Street in downtown Madison.

Parking: Free parking is available at Madison County High School. A free shuttle bus runs between MCHS and the festival.