LAKELAND —
The Flatlanders Fall Frolic arts and crafts show saw a steady crowd throughout the day Saturday, without interruptions from rain in spite of the sometimes sweltering heat when the sun shone through the intermittent clouds. The festival has been held annually in Lakeland for the past 42 years in honor of Labor Day weekend, and will continue throughout the day Sunday.
Though the sun was hot, the drinks were cool, and festival-goers were more than happy to peruse the more than 80 vendors selling their wares, grab a bite of alligator tail, listen to karaoke country music or watch entertainers at the pavilion.
Some of the main attractions included Unique and Natural pitcher plants hosted by Chandra Dasa of Alachua, Fla.; World War II veteran, prisoner of war and author J.D. Lankford, who sold his autobiography, titled “Walk With Me;” ventriloquist-magician Cliff Patton, who entertained children with his hand puppets in the pavilion; and Jimmy Hump’s handmade cypress ice chests and boat-shaped bookshelves.
Other crafts included bracelets made out of parachute cord, live daylilies, hand-tooled leather belts and bracelets, jewelry, homemade jelly and jam, kettle corn and farm-raised alligator tail kabobs.
“I think this is ahead of last year,” said Helen Strickland, event coordinator and Lakeland Chamber of Commerce board member. “The new people we haven’t had (before) makes it more interesting and adds a complement to the other treasures to take home.”
Strickland also remarked that the food was a big attraction. Plates containing funnel cakes, fried green tomatoes, shoestring sweet potato fries, fresh potato chips and other goodies circulated among the crowd throughout the afternoon.
Dasa made a killing with his pitcher plants native to India, he said. He sold about 100 for up to $35 each before 1 p.m., explaining to his customers that the small plants “ate” lovebugs, mosquitoes and no-see-ums, while the larger versions could consume anything as large as a field mouse.
The strange plants hung around him as he met with customers, adding a jungle flavor to his area of the line of booths. Dasa and his wife grow the plants in Florida and travel around to festivals in the south, selling the plants to make their living, he said.
Kristi Taylor of Kristi’s Kuntry Krafts and Goodies sold a few jars of candy apple jelly to Shirley Pearson and Karen Wolfe, who said they loved the flavor after trying a small sample.
Leah Feliciano of Lake Worth, Fla., showed off her hand-tooled and jeweled leather bracelets and cuffs under the brand name Warrior Creek. She claimed the brand was growing more popular and would soon appear in shopping malls around the country.
Hump enjoyed meeting with customers to show off his hand-made cypress bookshelves built to look like jon boats and his coolers made out of wood. His wares cost between $1,200 and $2,400. He made no sales before 1 p.m.
“My shop’s full,” he said. “I need to sell some before I make any new ones.”
Jim LaValley, Dale Wells and John Seppala of Giddens International gave away about 700 copies of The New Testament at the festival before noon, Wells said.
Many other vendors saw their own success as the crowd continued to meander through the lines of booths throughout the afternoon.
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