This year's International Gourd Art Festival at the Welburn Gourd Farm was the smoothest running show to date! And this entire article could be spent on reviewing the gorgeous weather, delicious foods, tasty wines, awesome entertainment, and, of course, the fabulous gourd artists and their amazing work! However, that can be overdone, especially if you were not able to attend. And if you were there, then you already know. The real entertainment at this point is the stories behind the Festival!

An Electrifying Experience or When Saws Go Bad. Let's begin with the creation of the new gourd art class location. For years the festival set-up has been hindered by having the classes in the same area that the exhibitor booths are located. After too many times of dodging class tables and students to get a tent in position, we trenched electrical wires and water pipes in another area of the farm next to growing fields and gourd stock piles. Well, that all turned out to be fine except that someone had missed checking the power output on two of the four electrical outlets. They were putting out twice the power than a normal outlet. A couple of the classes were surprised and temporarily interrupted by the additional electrical charge. Thankfully, no one was injured in the process, with the exception of a few saws that were a bit singed. As a reward for locating our oversight and for the loss of their tools, we gratefully replaced the burnt saws.

Dust, Dust Everywhere, But Not in the Lexus. If you have ever been to the farm, you know, it can get pretty dusty, especially if a bunch of cars are being parked in the fields. So, we invest in the renting of a water truck to keep down as much dust and dirt as possible. There are many levers and valves on a water truck, and the faster the truck is driven, the faster the water is sprayed. Knowing this our driver, was driving slow and keeping away from the side valves in order not to wet any body or any car. Well, it just so happened that someone had some not-so-great karma built up. And just as the doors of a two month old Lexus were opened and three people were entering (or exiting) the car, our water truck driver accidentally bumped the lever of the side water valves and out shot about 20 gallons of water up over two cars and landed right inside the Lexus and on its passengers. Not so funny to the water truck driver or the Lexus owner and his passengers at the time. And especially not funny to our driver when he found out that the Lexus owner was a retired police officer. After a few minutes of interrogation and searching for retribution, the ex-policeman asked the water truck driver, "Who do you work for?" And the honest answer from the driver was, "Nobody. I'm a volunteer." You can take this as funny or not. But looking back now, I sit here chuckling because I can still hear someone on the radio saying, "Uh....we're gonna need some more towels."

More and More Wine Anyone? Have you ever played the game "Telephone"? You tell someone something like "carrots", and they tell someone and on and on. And by the time it is told to the last person it comes out "peas". You get the idea. For the festival, we had enough stock of wine from local wineries to last the entire weekend, with the rule of thumb for the pouring of the wine being half a glass. The glasses are a rather large size, and it's supposed to be a glorified taste and not a license to get drunk off the first pour. After a few shift changes of wine pourers, the final pourer of the day was none other than Sue Welburn, herself. And after hearing through the "Telephone" how much to pour, created her own interpretation to the size of the pour. The final hours of wine pours on Saturday were an extremely full glass that nearly ran over the rim. And when asked how we could have gone through so much wine on the first day, Sue replied, "By the way the person before me was pouring, I thought we must have gotten a great deal on the wine, so I poured a bit more." So, Saturday night we had to make a run to town to get more wine for Sunday. It's hard to find good help, eh?

Mask Puzzle. One of our patrons in particular became the proud owner of a gorgeous Dave Sisk mask that was perched on, as well as attached to, a tall, metal stand. After plunking down $2,500 on the well-priced piece, our happy shopper went to the Wine Garden to celebrate. Much time had passed and the show was near closing for the day when our now really happy shopper went to pick up her prized mask. But before she left for the day, she stopped back by the Wine Garden to meet up with her husband and finish her final glass of wine. She set her new piece upright on uneven ground and in her happiness, let go of the stand. The female-like mask fell to the ground and was smashed into a lot of pieces. But not to fear! The Gluesmith was Here! Repairs were made, and with a smile on her face our happy patron said, "Now she is my broken lady." I wonder, was Sue pouring for her?

Where is Tucker? Who says camping on the farm isn't an adventure? Thursday night before the show several RV's and tents had already set up camp. There was one RV in particular that had a tall, lighted lawn palm tree set outside its door. And like a moth to a flame, from the dark of night came a truck with red lights flashing. As the truck came to a stop at the campground, a man jumped out and stumbled around from RV to tent, claiming that he was looking for Tucker. No one at the campground had even heard of anyone named Tucker. But this probably intoxicated man said he had a GPS location on Tucker, and Tucker had to be here in the campgrounds. He said it was an emergency and that he had to get to Tucker and take him to the hospital. Tucker was in trouble, but who is Tucker? After several minutes of the man searching for Tucker, he hopped in his truck and drove away. Does the story end there? No. Because, not but 15 or 20 minutes later, the man was back at the campsites, searching for someone named Tucker. His GPS reading had to be right. Tucker needed him, and he was going to find him. Okay, but no one there had even heard of Tucker. Then he began thinking it was a conspiracy, that someone there knew Tucker and was hiding him. After several reassurances that there was no foul play and that Tucker was not in the vicinity, the man stumbled to his truck and drove away. So, if anyone knows who Tucker is or where he is at, please let us know.

All's well that ends well. And this year's festival definitely ended well, in spite of the crazy stories. The Welburn Gourd Farm and I would like to extend our deepest gratitude to all of the volunteers, staff, California Gourd Society, North County Fire Explorers, De Luz Volunteer Fire Department, Premier Marketing, and Timmy D. Productions who worked so hard to make the show come together. And our hearfelt thanks to our attendees, exhibitors, and vendors who always contribute so much and without whom there would be no festival to pull together. Thank you, our readers, for continuing to read The Gourdzette and for shopping with California Gourds. For without your support there would be no us.

With much love and thanks,

Patti Diaz
Festival Director of the International Gourd Art Festival at the Welburn Gourd Farm
Editor of The Gourdzette newsletter
AND owner and operator of California Gourds