It’s Mardi Gras

FARMER CITY - While downtown blinked and whirled in the excitement of its first Pumpkin Festival, across town something both old and new was happening. Jim Waite’s 19^th Midwest Sebastian Fair was underway in a new location – Woodlawn Country Club. Waite’s Blossom Shop and Collectibles has moved since last year’s Fair. Look for the shop in the first business block of Farmer City – suite B in the Homan Insurance & Finance building.

The theme was Mardi Gras, and the banquet room was hung with strands of little lights. Round tables were set with eight lovely place settings each, to accommodate the crowd. Fall centerpieces were surrounded by Mardi Gras beads and coins, while gifts for the guests were beside every plate.

To show Waite’s wry sense of humor, a Mardi Gras parade started the evening off bringing a guffaw and applause from the guests, as a short stream of celebrators paraded from Woodlawn’s kitchen, through the banquet hall and out into the front foyer. A mystery woman in a mask, pulled two children in a wagon and tossed out necklaces for bystanders, an unknown kid pedaled a Big Wheel, and finally Scott Summers in a deep blue robe, wielded his broom to clear the path for King Rex (Jim Waite), decked out in a fur-trimmed red robe and king’s crown! We guess you could say Waite was “the living end” of the grand parade.)

Sebastian collectors came from Massachusetts, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, New York, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, and Canada for the well-known Midwest Sebastian Fair, which looks forward to celebrating its 20^th anniversary next October.

Marge and Woody Baston, who sculpts and paints the miniature collectibles, were welcome visitors. Woody, in his quiet but jovial way, commented on their trip to Illinois. “When we flew,” he said, “it was simple. Two bags each. That was all the airlines would allow. But this year we loaded the van and drove out. It is amazing how much that van will hold and what becomes ‘necessary’ just because there is room for it. For instance,” Baston went on, “Marge brought three pairs of shoes, when she only brought one on the plane!”

Woody’s work

As Woody stood at the podium, a lighted curio case sat in front of him on a table. It held all of this year’s projects. He called each by name and told something about his work on it .

The band ornament, which was first created for and sold by the Blue Ridge Band last year, has now been done in five customized colors for other school districts.

Angel number four compliments the first three Baston has done. This year’s pewter piece is Mrs. Claus. She will join the Santas done in previous years..

Harry Hood II has also been done in pewter to be used as awards by the Hood Dairy Company. Hood’s has long been a customer of Sebastian miniatures – 1959, to be exact. In 1983 Woody created “Harry Hood.” Woody added a horse and wagon for the Hood Company in 1985. For a while, the company cut back and did not commission a new miniature, then Woody did a Santa by the fireplace for them, and a couple years ago, he created the Hood Dairy Truck. Last year Harry and his cow were made by Woody, as well as Harry Hood II.

These Hood collectibles are done in limited numbers and are in great demand. On Saturday of the Midwest Sebastian Fair, a Harry Hood trophy sold for $975. It just came out last June!

Eastern Star is having its piece done by Woody again this year. It displays the Eastern Star logo with three stars, a bird and a cat on bricks. It was an intricate piece to work on, he says.

Baston says, “I don’t know how he did it, but Jim (Waite) called the right place and found the lady who wanted the Statue of Liberty sculpted. AT&T presented them to top customers at a party the company held in honor of the re-dedication of the famous New York harbor statue. Waite said it took 65 phone calls to find the right person, but each of his collectors who wanted one, was able to get it!

The Fall River Church has 100 windows. That took some doing to paint, Baston told the group; but it looks great! Johnny Appleseed, is a new version. The figurine is about three inches tall and depicts Johnny carrying an apple seed bag over his shoulder. Mr. Baston also has done an assignment from America’s Rotary club, which includes the Rotary seal, a statue and a mill combined in the work.

One Sebastian miniature commissioned by Waite’s Blossom Shop and Collectibles is in the new wildlife series. This year’s is a beaver in its habitat. Most figurines are in color, but a few have been done in pewter.

A delightful work done by Woody Baston is a girl reading a book and is called simply “Bibliophile.” Baston’s father started her in the 70’s. Woody and Marge experimented with various colors for her clothing, finally deciding on a beautiful pale blue. She is lovely and makes an appealing piece sitting on a bench with her book.

The last thing Baston named was the annual medallion made for the Midwest Sebastian Fair. This year it is an oval displaying three Mardi Gras masks – each a different color. The artist says, “Marge didn’t get a chance to paint any of these – I had too much fun!”

Contests and auction

Saturday began with a “Paint your own Sebastian” contest. The figurine chosen for painting this year was Dickens’ Pecksniff from Dicken’s Martin Chuzzlewit. Doug White from Colorado was the winner in that contest.

Several participated in the “Look Alike” contest participants dress like and adopt the pose of any of the Sebastian miniatures. Brittany Craig, from Canada won in the children’s department. She represented the figurine called St. Teresa. Chuck Darger, Indiana, won the adult contest with his costume and pose as “The Amish Man.”

Larry Isaacs from Indiana has cried most of the auctions of the Midwest Sebastian Fair. It is a fitting close to the weekend’s festivities. This year there were bids from seventeen states. The auction’s highest bid of $1500 was for a Siesta Coffee pen stand.

click here for 2003 auction results