By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green’s downtown was flooded by the Black Swamp Arts Festival Saturday – starting in the morning with patrons shopping for art and ending at night with music fans hopping to country-fied swamp funk.
During the day, Main Street swelled with people picking out paintings, pottery and alpaca sweaters. And when the sun set, people swarmed the seats for bands serving up Texas rock and American country soul.
The swamp fest was the end to a prolonged dry spell for the downtown that has been under construction for two summers.
“It’s like Christmas downtown,” said Tony Vetter, head of the Downtown BG organization.
“They aren’t just walking in the streets, they are going into the stores,” Vetter said. “I’m just amazed at how many people are here today. They are everywhere.”
And they were in the mood to buy.
Friends Barbara Fisher of Northwood, RoseMary Cook of Lambertville, Michigan, and Sandy Donahue of Highland, Michigan, came to the festival to do some serious shopping.
They inadvertently heard the music – but they were in Bowling Green to buy.
“We’re here for the stuff,” said Fisher, who had made her first purchase of the day – a photo of a gorilla.
Cook was more focused on jewelry – buying earrings and a bracelet made from repurposed silverware.
And Donahue had found a prize – “a glass piggy to go with my glass cow.”
For years, the trio has been coming to the festival and frequenting the downtown stores and restaurants. They gave the event high marks for quality art.
“It would get an A plus if there was better parking,” Cook said.
The art show stretched from Court Street to Washington Street – and featured artists specializing in glass, woodworking,pottery, painting, fiber, leather, metal, jewelry and photography.
There was art to hang on walls, art to put in yards, art to sit on, art to eat and drink from, and art to wear.
“I am a huge appreciator of the arts,” said Leslie Kastner, of Marysville. “I can’t do it, but I can appreciate it,” she said.
Kastner showed her appreciation by buying multiple items at the festival. Normally she makes her husband and son go to arts festivals with her.
“I drag them to arts festivals all over Ohio. They hate it,” she said.
So Saturday, she brought along friend Kim Kopral, of Westerville, who also shares her appreciation of the arts.
The two of them had appreciated – and bought – pottery, a wooden stadium map, a giraffe on a stick for the yard, a drawing of the Futurama character Bender, a sheep with a “very cute face,” and a ceramic gnome.
“You have to appreciate the arts,” Kopral said with a grin.
In the Wood County Invitational section of the art show, Gary Popovitch, of Millbury, was loading up on gifts for grandchildren – including a picture of a sloth and other items.
“I come every year. It’s nice people, good food, good music,” Popovitch said. “And I always find something to buy.”
As the shoppers studied the art, they were entertained by bands performing on the stage in front of the library, and another in front of the Four Corners Center.
Aaron and Mary Wicks, of Oregon, took a break from shopping to listen to Matt Thacker & Route 23 – entertaining a crowd with banjo, mandolin, and guitar music.
“I love bluegrass, and this is really cool,” Aaron Wicks said.
Mary Wicks was keeping her eyes open for glass art, jewelry and outdoor art, while her husband was hoping to find pepper jelly – which when combined with cream cheese makes a killer appetizer, he said.
He was not deterred when told that pepper jelly was unlikely to be among the artist booths.
“We’re going to find out,” Aaron Wicks said. “It’s worth looking for.”
While many of the adults spent money on art in the blocks of downtown, children and teenagers worked at the north and south ends of the festival – creating their own art. (A story will appear in Sunday’s BG Independent News on those efforts.)
On the north end of the festival, Jayne Tegge couldn’t stand still as she listened to Westbound Situation perform in front of the library.
“I love anything I can dance to,” she said. “I live downtown during the Black Swamp.”
Also listening to the quartet of fiddle, banjo, cello and bass – featuring Bowling Green native Grant Flick on the fiddle – was Jane Milbrodt.
“It’s so original, and I love the improvising,” she said. “It’s an unusual quartet. It’s very interesting to sit here and listen to the things they can do.”
When the sun went down, people packed the beer garden to hear Bands of Heathens.
“They’re a great American band. A little country, a little rock-n-roll,” said Todd Milkie, from Avon Lake, who has seen the band perform at least four times.
Caroline Metzker, of Bowling Green, was also moving to the beat of the rockabilly band.
“I like the rhythm. I like the sound. It’s got a great beat,” she said.
Metzker said she really wanted to catch the band – Two Tons of Steel – earlier in the evening.
“I came, and I saw, and I was very pleased,” she said. “You just can’t go wrong at the Black Swamp.”
The night wrapped up with Shinyribs, with the lead introduced as “the shiniest man in show business.”
In his bright red suit and tie, floral print shirt, long gray beard and Pork Pie hat, the lead singer had the crowd moving to his music. By the end of the night, the audience was joining in a congo line.
“I like the way he dances. I like to see a fat man who can dance like that,” said fan Tom Pierce, of Toledo. “Plus, you got to love a band that has a good cow bell.”
Melissa Shaffer, of Bowling Green, appreciated the horn, saxophone and back up dancers moving in unison.
“I like the diverse instruments. It’s not just drums and guitar,” she said.
Sustaining the crowd, in addition to hydration from the beer garden, were food trucks serving up some items as spicy as the music on the stage.
There were Po-boys, Mexican tostadas, barbecued ribs, sirloin tips, perch, torpedo shrimp and cajun fries, pad thai and hungarian sausage.
Ian Young lamented the fact that he missed a band he was hoping to see because he got caught up talking to people at the festival. But the night was not a complete loss.
“I did have some good ribs,” he said.
