SECOND ANNUAL ARRFFF FEST

by
Maryann Miller

The third Saturday in April was a busy one for downtown Winnsboro. The Third Friday Arts Festival drew a number of artists and visitors, but the big show that day was ARRFFF! Fest, the second annual fund-raiser to benefit the Winnsboro Center for the Arts, APET/SPCA, and the City of Winnsboro Animal Shelter to raise money for low-cost or no-cost spay/neuter and vaccination clinics for dogs and cats in Wood County.

People do love their dogs, and all the other cute dogs that came out for the festivities, and there were at least a hundred people who watched the Pet Parade at the Depot, then went over to the art center for the rest of the show.

The Center hosted an exhibit, as well as an art and photo contest - all entries focusing on animals. The exhibit, with all the entries included, is still up at the Center and includes paintings, drawings, wire sculpture, scratchboards, photographs and more.

During the day there was a children's coloring contest and 5 year old T'Aunna Leaks won first place. Second place went to Jennifer Leyva, and Isaac Vilchiz won 3rd place.

Dogs were entered in various contests, too, and some of the winners were: "Clyde," who is owned by Armec Crocker and was named Best Behaved. "Duggie," owned by Bob Simmons was named Best Groomed. "Sophie," owned by Sandy Hocking was named Best Small Dog. "Chance," owned by Karen Jerome was named Best Large Dog. "Dum-Dum," owned by Rachel Carter was named Most Original.

He also won first place with the Most Unique Costume in the Pet Parade for the blue highlights on his top-knot, tail and paws. Rachel, who recently moved to Winnsboro from Irving, said that she came up with the idea because she thought it would be cute. "I used egg coloring," she said. "So it doesn't have anything that would hurt him if he licks it."

There were lots of entries in the Pet Parade and they were all much appreciated by the crowd, but the "Pom Parade" by Kat Sillick drew the most attention. Of course, 11 Pomeranians with one owner are hard to miss.

Kat had to have help leading some of the dogs, and she carried three, making the cutest picture. The dogs won Best of Show, Best of Herd, and the People's Choice Award.

Why am I not surprised.

Kat, who owns Slender Lady and Chelsea's Garden in Winnsboro, said she was surprised and delighted to win. "I never expected it, and I am so glad that the people like my babies."

Other activities for the day included a demonstration of obedience training featuring "Zoya" a giant schnauzer owned by Mary Dick of Tyler. Zoya is a trained therapy dog, and Mary said that visiting with children in hospitals is one of Zoya's favorite things to do. "This is my first giant schnauzer," Mary said. "But definitely not my last. She has been a dream to work with. Very smart and responsive."

Mary used to train horses, but more recently has been concentrating on dog training. She works on basic obedience, and Zoya is a champion in obedience and conformation, but she also does tricks. One of the cutest was having Zoya respond to Mary's sneeze by bringing her a box of tissues.

Before the show, Zoya practiced her bow off stage.

Another show-stopper was "Chance" owned by Karen Jerome of Winnsboro. Just a year old, Chance is a Schutzhund, which means Police Dog." "She is a German bred dog," Karen said. "And I started working with her as a puppy."

Chance performed a number of tricks and obedience moves, and the most clever was his "recycling"

Karen, who breeds German Sheperds, brought her own treats to reward Chance when he did a trick, but he decided he liked treats that had been made by Becky Pickett, Winnsboro Center for the Arts President, better. Becky had bags of the treats for sale as part of the fund-raiser, but was also giving out samples. After tasting one, Chance gave her a huge "paws up" for her efforts.

Winnsboro artist Grahame Hopkins offered his talents and drew caricatures of pets and their owners. Pictured here with Grahame is "The Empress Josephine" owned by Don and Bonnie White. He did a number of pictures throughout the day, and the proceeds were donated to the fund-raising cause.

Phyllis Martin, VISTA worker who organized the event said she was pleased with the response by the community, and the people from the Center and APET/SPCA. "People gave of their time and talent to support two good causes," she said. "Support like that is what helps make an event like this a success."

Sandy Page, Cultural Arts Coordinator for Winnsboro, was also pleased with the event. "It helped draw people downtown for the Third Friday Art Festival," she said. "We have about 18 exhibitors here, and this is a much larger crowd than we expected."

One of the exhibitors was "Twilight Dancers Candles" by Amanda Clark. Amanda's daughter, Ally Niles, was helping visitors and passing out samples of the various candles. Ally, who attends Memorial Middle School in Winnsboro, said she likes helping with the booth. "It's fun," she said. "I like to help people find what they like."

Sandy said it would be great to have some kind of special event going on at the Art Center for every Third Friday Festival. "It could be of great benefit for them and for the whole town," she said.