Messenger Intern

Art, music and food…who could ask for anything more?

The Pioneer Museum of Alabama played host this weekend to a fun-filled art and crafts show. Art shows began at 9 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m. on Saturday, while the shows began a little later at 10 a.m. today and ending at 5 p.m.

The festival is co-sponsored by the Troy Council on the

Arts and Humanities, the Alabama Council on the Arts and Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, Pike County Chamber of Commerce and the Pioneer Museum of Alabama. From shrimp to popcorn, blue-grass music and a magician to handmade accessories and potted plants, the 20th Annual Jean Lake Festival had much to offer residents and visitors of Troy.

Booths filled with tasty treats were present. Jim and Susan Miller of "Miller’s Kettlecorn" traveled from Atlanta, Ga., to participate in the annual festival, while Bob Gordon’s next-door booth offered quite a different flavor to tickle customers’ taste buds.

"I had to bring my Cajun boiled shrimp out here, because it’s my specialty. I will participate in the Trade Day that Brundidge will have next weekend reciting poetry, so as you can tell, I like to get involved in all of the events held around here," Gordon said.

Artists such as Sheridan Glenn of Montgomery, Camille Hedden of Ponte Vero, Fla., and Jonathon Rudloff from Panama City, Fla., brought a wide variety of art and crafts to the festival. While Ms. Hedden offered her own design of purses for sale, Mr. Rudloff brought several different styles of unique birdhouses.

"I taught school for 10 years in Orlando, so I really didn’t have much time for anything else. My parents showed me how to make my own birdhouses two years ago and I have been doing it ever since. I have wall pots for flowers, garden angels and some bluebird cabins," Rudloff said.

Fifth time Jean Lake Festival vendor Keith Newby of Dothan first began painting seriously when his daughter got married and moved out of her bedroom, which serves as a studio. He says that talent has nothing to do with his drawings and paintings, it just takes practice.

"Art is something that you really have to love. Spend time with it, get a technique book, visit museums. That’s how you learn, then it becomes something you feel passionate about," Newby said.