Sweet Signs of Summer

Apalachicola did it in low-key fashion, Carrabelle marked it with fun and frivolity, but the importance of last weekend's double feature of events wAS clear.
The summer is just about upon us, and it looks like tourists will continue to once again make the county a preferred destination.
Superb sunny skies and pleasant temperatures drew hefty crowds to both the 18th annual Carrabelle Riverfront Festival on Saturday and Sunday, and the 10th annual Apalachicola Antique and Classic Boat Show on Saturday.
Without a formal counting mechanism, neither event could determine precisely their attendance, but indicators, such as the fact that the rooms and marina at the Water Street Hotel were packed with visitors and there wasn't a parking spot to be found in Carrabelle all weekend, showed attendance was strong.
"We sold more T- shirts than ever before," said Anita Grove, executive director of the Apalachicola Area Chamber of Commerce, which organized the boat show along Water Street, in front of Veterans Park.
More than 100 people attended a low country boil at the fledgling Apalachicola Maritime Museum on Saturday evening, as they enjoyed a talk, complete with photographs, by Gibby Conrad. Now a resident of Tallahassee, Conrad for a long while ran a tour boat of the estuary out of Scipio Creek.
"For all our visitors and boat owners, the boat show was a good compact show that helps preserve the local maritime history," said Grove.
The show featured a wealth of handmade boats, from Fred Sawyer's 14-foot skiff, to George Watkins' 15' 2" traditional flat skiff, to Joe Hutchinson's juniper, cypress ash and cherry canoe.
There were plenty of stylish, manufactured ones as well, plus an amazing engine collection by Ray Maloney of Cairo, GA, and all kinds of great sports cars, such as the 1962 Corvette owned by Ed and Candice Springer, of Apalachicola.
"It was the last of the curved body style and the first with a 327 engine," he said.
Watkins took Best in Show for a Locally Built Boat, owned by Jimmy Moses. Watkins said he can hardly keep up with demand for his boats, made of cypress, juniper and plywood, which carry a 24" depth, a 5" draft and at 6'6" wide.
Hutchinson took second place for his Locally Built Boat, while the Franklin County Seafood Workers' oyster boat took Best In Show for a Locally Built Work Boat.
Sawyer's skiff, which he built after retiring as an electrical engineer in 1992 from Progress Energy, was Best In Show Overall.
Laurence Kolk took Best In Show- Launch, and Lew Wagar took Best in Show -Runabout. Roger Pinholster was second place for Runabout.
The Best In Show - Sailboat honors went to Helen and Bill Lankford, with second place given to Russell Hooten.
Best In Show - Skiff went to Richard Edgerly, while Michael Grace took Best in Show and second place for Paddlecraft.
Best In Show - Power Cruiser went to the "LuLu Bell" owned by Joe Roszkowski, while Maloney's antique engines were Best In Show for Antique Motors.
J L Burkett took Best In Show- Antique Marine Engine, and the Best In Show - Antique Car went to an aqua Studebaker. Bob Faliski's 1955 Chevrolet took second in the Antique Car category.
Cletus Heaps won Best In Show- Antique Boat & Car, while Wayne and Linda Bates took second. Bud Harrison won Best In Show- Aluminum Classic, Dell Schneider won Best In Show- In Water Power Cruiser and Fred Beauchemin took Best In Show- In Water Sailboat.
Among Dory entries, Don Wagner was Best In Show while Greg Readon took second.
In Carrabelle, a sand sculpture built by Mark Flynn and Kevin Nall from Sand Odyssey, and featuring eight tons of sand, greeted visitors.
Folks could enjoy a huge display of exotic birds brought by the Big Bend Bird Club, or take part in hands-on encounters with sea creatures in an exhibit brought by the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Lab.
A pet parade on Saturday morning was a big hit, said Suzanne Zimmerman, director of the Carrabelle Chamber of Commerce.
There was a tie for best behaved pet, between Harriet Beach's Max and Mabel, and Claudia Gref's Sissy. Best dressed dog honors went to Jack, owned by Lucille Walden, while the funniest dog was Lucky, owned by Kendall Meyer. The best homemade dress honors were shared by Reese, owned by Eve Conter, and Johnson, owned by Emma Duggan.
In addition to the Fishy Fashion show on Saturday, there were performances by the Alabama Blue Brothers, from Huntsville, AL, and an equally great crowd for Coo Coo the Clown. On Sunday, local favorite Locomotive delighted the crowd at the waterfront pavilion.
On Sunday morning, the festival offered kayak races. In the solo category, first place went to Tom Herzog, from Carrabelle, second to Erik Johnson, from Bristol, and third to Larry Miller, from Carrabelle. The first place tandem kayak was won by Skip and Kathy Frink, from Carrabelle.
To bring everyone together, volunteers and vendors, the chamber hosted a meet-and-greet lo country boil on Friday evening, in Harry's courtyard. Amy's Bakery donated a cake for that event.
"It seemed like there were more children this year," said Zimmerman. "It went very well; I do know my vendors were happy. Everybody had a great time."