Clay Fest day 1: Running man

[offcntr]

It's always gratifying to see a line outside the door when 5 pm arrives. The show fills up rapidly, and we look pretty busy all evening. I greet some familiar faces, sell a bunch of plates--including some of the Alaska wall. In between, I'm dashing into a back room where my laptop is set up so I can create certificates for the gallery awards. It's my next-to-last task as Graphics Chair. (Last is People's Choice award tomorrow.) There's a brief kerfuffle when the sponsorship chair realizes we don't have any prizes for second and third place, which I solve by suggesting Clay Fest gift certificates. We already issue a few for the Flower Ladies, a group of Garden Club volunteers who spend a couple of hours Friday morning doing flower arrangements in members' pots, so it's easy enough for me to knock together a couple more while I'm doing awards.

When we started the Friday night openings, we had live music, but the last few years, we've gone back to our roots, and put pottery demonstrations back on the stage. Tea Duong is a spectacularly gifted potter, and a funny guy, so always draws a crowd. I try to get a good picture to use on next year's bookmark, but he moves so fast, every time I get his face in the shot and press the shutter, he's moved back to the bottom of the pot.