Downtown Marshall NCThe Creative Life on the River

Come celebrate the 5th annual Mermaids in Marshall where pirates, mermaids, and other sea creatures are encouraged to attend! The Downtown Marshall Association and the Madison County Tourism Development Authority along with the Marshall Parks and Recreation Department is hosting the kick off to the French Broad Friday Series on June 1, 2012.  Galleries and restaurants in downtown Marshall will be staying open late, restaurants will be offering menus inspired by the sea and there will be an overall celebration of Marshall.

Festivities begin at 5 pm.  Sara Tucker will be performing on the island stage while the wee ones sell lemonade to parched sailors.  In the Marshall High Studios artists’ studios will be open and there will be a treasure hunt for children.  Anyone finding a baldoon will be entitled to a free sample of a Zuma Gold cookie at Zuma.  At the Tattoo Museum there will be face painting and removable tattoos applied while Joshualee plays and sings.  There will be free samples of Pirate Booty given away at Bowmans hardware and there will be a tour conducted of the renovated SECU building.  Carriage rides to and from the island will be provided by Ray Cantrell and will start out at Lapland Book Store.  At the Madison County Arts Council there will be an exhibit of “Music, Photography and Life by Daniel Coston.

The parade starts on the island at 6:30 pm.  It will go up back street, down Main, up to Lapland Books and end at the island where our guest judges will be presenting prizes!! Please come and be part of the parade along with Riverlink and The Asheville Rollergirls.

At 7 pm, following the parade, Pleasure Chest and Shake It Like A Caveman will be performing on the courthouse steps.  The Depot will be open featuring traditional, country, bluegrass and mountain music, dancing, a cakewalk and lots of fun.

The party will continue after at Good Stuff where Peace Jones will be performing.

For more information please contact Anne Schneider with the Downtown Marshall Association at 828.649.3444 or director@downtownmarshallnc.com. We look forward to seeing you in Downtown Marshall!

Thanks to all who participated in the French Broad Friday Drover’s Last Stand scavenger hunt!  It was great to see so many people walking around downtown looking for the architectural features. 

Congrats to George Smith and Priscilla Hope for being the first to turn in all the correct answers!  Most people left once they turned in their forms so the prizes weren’t awarded.  We’ll do that at the Annual Meeting on Wed Oct 20 at 5:30pm and will notify winners.

Oops – I had meant to post the scavenger hunt answers weeks ago.  (where does the time go???).  Here they are:

The last French Broad Friday in Downtown Marshall for 2010 is Friday, September 10th with lots of very exciting activites planned.  The theme, “Drovers’ Last Stand”, ties in with the town’s history of being on the Drover’s Road (where farmers would walk their animals to market). 

Below is the Program of Events with times and locations of the various activities.  NOTE:  Due to a scheduling conflict, the Petting Zoo will NOT happen.  Sorry for any inconvenience!

5:30 to 9:00PM:  Main Street will be closed.  Parking on the Island.  FREE horse & wagon shuttle to and from Main Street provided by Sandy Bottom Trail Rides.

5:00 to 8:30PM:  SCAVENGER HUNT!!  Match Architectural features with the building or business. Pick up a copy of the scavenger hunt materials in the SECU parking lot.  Participants who turn in answers will receive a “special” Marshall giveaway (while supplies last) and are eligible for prizes.

5:00 to 9:00PM:  GRAND OPENING of the Democratic Headquarters in the old Zuma location, across from the Courthouse.  Enjoy snacks and participate in the cake auction.

5:00 to 7:00PM:  OPEN HOUSE at the French Broad Institute (of Time & the River).  Lulu’s Beauty Parlor – pretty or dude yourself up for the evening!  Bring any beauty goodies you’d like to share (ie hairbows, make-up or nail polish).  Drover’s Ballads on the half hour and roving Cowboy songs.  Sign up to read part of “The Great Drive” from Wilma Dykeman’s book, “The French Broad”. 

5:30 to Sundown: QUILT-MAKING DEMONSTRATION by members of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit.  Buy raffle tickets to win the quilt (benefitting Neighbors in Need & My Sisters Place).

6:00 to 8:00PM:  ART OPENING at Zuma.  See the mixed media work of the Advanced Studio Class of AB Tech and meet the students and instructor Paula Parker.

6:00 to 8:00PM:  Madison County Arts Council:  LAST CHANCE!  This is the last night of the Hot New Pots exhibit.  And the new retail space will be open for business!

5:00 to 7:30PM:  Visit the historic rail car offices of the News Record & Sentinel on Back Street and VIEW ARCHIVES of a century’s worth of storied Madison County newspapers and photographs.

6:00 to 9:00PM:  GRAND OPENING of “Pace Cycles” on Back Street next to the Junk Store.  Carson Pace has created a very unique space for his bike shop.  Sign up to win a FREE bicycle tune-up!

6:45 to 7:15PM:  Blue Grass MUSIC by award-winning fiddle player Adam Masters and the Yellow Dawgs – in front of the Democratic Headquarters.

7:00 to 10:00PM: The Marshall Depot.  The Depot on Main Street is a community sponsored venue that hosts an old time bluegrass jam every Friday night at 7 p.m. This is always a free event, but donations are welcome. Come on out and bring your dancin’ shoes!

7:15 to 8:00PM: Introduction of Democratic candidates and live cake auction – in front of the Democratic Headquarters.

8:00 to 8:45PM:  Blue Grass music continues.

9:00 to 11:00PM:  FREE CONCERT on the Courthouse steps (weather permitting).  Bring your blankets and/or lawn chairs and enjoy some funky jazz and Appalachian weirdness from Marshall favorites, the Steve Davidowski Duo. 

9:00 ish:  Third Annual Spitball Tofurkey Shoot, outside Good Stuff.

~ Studios and Galleries ~

Flow:  14 South Main, open till 9PM.  Showcasing local pottery, artisan furniture, woodworking and jewelry.

Marshall High Studios:  Studio 104, Blannahassett Island, open from 6PM to 9PM.  See the art that is created in the old high school.

Hill Street Studios:  Open 6 to 9PM.  Studios are located on the corner of Main & Hill Streets, back door/second floor. 

Mary Maupin Paintings in acrylics and oils

Suzanna Biro Jewelry and other unique pieces

 ~ Food, Drinks and Stores ~

Ain’t that Cuticle  63 South Main Street, open until 9PM. First floor features antiques, gifts and oddities.  Hoping for the return of the fried pickle!!

Bacchus Bistro  18 North Main, open until 10PM. Special “vittles” are Smoked Pork Ribs, Hearty Steak or the popular Shrimp Pasta.  Live music with the Dirty Gondola’s on the new back patio. 

Foreverland  280-ish South Main, GRAND OPENING!  Mixture of locally handmade & vintage clothes, furniture, household items & accessories as well as musical instruments & art.

Good Stuff  133 South Main, open until……  Café open until 10PM.   Meet Brandon Dana and taste “Brandon’s Kolsch”, winner of the 2010 Highland Cup.   Live music with Asheville blues musician JP Delanoye at 8PM.  Kevin Edwards is the featured artist this month.

Lapland Bookshop and Arts  147 North Main, open until 8PM.  New and used books and regional art in a storybook setting on the French Broad River.  Special fiber event to be announced!

Joe Penland’s Indoor Flea Market  148 South Main, open until 9PM.  Indoor flea market and jam with Joe Penland.

Junk Store on Back Street, open until 8PM.  Secondhand store with good junk.

My Sister’s Attic 103 South Main, open until 8PM.  The inventory is constantly changing – so stop on by for great deals!

Natural Canvas Tattoo and Museum  133 South Main, open until 9PM.  Very cool shop – stop in and chat with Chad.

Pace Cycles  Back Street, open until 9PM.  Marshall’s newest business venture!  Meet Carson who KNOWS his bikes!  FYI: Carson is a metal artist as well, so he fits in well in Downtown Marshall!

Penland’s Department Store  50 South Main, open till 9PM.  Old time department store – Carhartts, clothing, books from local authors and much more!  See the Drover’s Rack for SPECIAL DEALS!

 Zuma Coffee  7 North Main, open till 9PM.  Marshall’s meeting place!  Creative healthy comfort food.

Dog Daze was a RESOUNDING SUCCESS!!  Everyone that I have talked to that night and since then has said how much fun they had and how well it went. 

KUDOS to the committee for all their hard work.  The primary members were:  Diane Van Helden, Lois Simbach, Danni Iosello, Randi Howell, and Virginia Schmidt.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Also, a huge thanks to the maker’s of dog beds for the silent auction!  (Bucky Parker wins the prize for being the first to turn his in, Tim Hurley, Mike Stevenson, Richard McCracken, Lois Simbach, Lee Walker and yours truly spent many hours making a wide variety of beds).  The proceeds from the auction brought roughly $850 to Friends (yay!) and the flea boutique brought in another $150, so it was a nice, $1,000 fundraiser for the local non-profit.

Marshall Family Pharmacy really got into the Dog Daze event!

Pictures:  Several people took pictures at the event - as good ones come in, I’ll get them uploaded here as well.  I had my camera with me, but didn’t get too many pictures as I was busy handing out 25 prizes for the various winners and 60 bandanas for all dogs that were entered into a contest.  Debbie from Marshall Family Pharmacy had one dog dressed as a hot dog (not a daschund) and another as a hamburger. 

Banjo Austin seemed very non-chalant about winning the floppiest ears contest!

Dog Contest prizes were provided by Mountain Tails Pet Supplies, Weaverville Pet Pantry, TJ’s Mountain Market, Fiddlestix, Ponder Cove B&B and Madison Dry Cleaners. 

I don't think he'll forgive me for this!!

I’m not sure if Joe Penland knew what he was getting into when he agreed to serve as the emcee for the dog contests but he certainly did a great job!!

 There were a lot of people with dogs all sitting in a nice semi-circle with the dog contests area in the middle (might be nice when we get the stage, eh?).  Anyway, my husband (Rick) always gets the “fun jobs” like when I handed him the camera and asked that he go up to the second floor to get a picture to show the crowd of people (sorry about thos trees in the way!).

Several people participated in the “paint your own pottery” opportunity.  The raw bisque pieces were brought up to Marshall from Fired Up! of Asheville.  Emily Reason glazed and fired the pieces and they can be seen and/or picked up at Zuma (I loved the bobble-head dog one!)

Pooch parade pictures – - need to find some!  Marshall Family Pharmacy decorated their truck and led the parade with Mayor Lawrence Ponder following with a FABULOUS wolf hat on (I saw him the next day and I think he was still wearing it!!)