Awards ceremony for projects that were blowin’ in the wind.
The Coast Guard  - September, 2005

     It is safe to say that, six years ago, when Herschel Specter dreamed up the idea of a yearly festival celebrating whirligigs and weathervanes, he was not inundated with offers of support and interest. Nonetheless, Herschel did interest the Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club in being the event’s sponsor, gathered a small cadre of volunteers and the inaugural festival - including public displays, judging and prizes -  went off without a hitch.
     The festival, which has coincided with Founders’ Days weekend, has grown in size and stature each year since. For the past two years the event has had full-page features in the Halifax Herald, in addition to generous coverage from the Coast Guard yearly. “Frankly,” says Herschel Specter, “I am impressed with how much interest the festival generates with each passing year.”
     Based on encouragement from several quarters, Herschel has formed a larger and more ambitious festival committee and the group has decided to expand the horizons and the reach of the event. “We wanted the Festival to have more of an impact on the area,” adds Herschel, “and not just those who happen to come to see the public displays.”  One way of doing that, concluded the committee, was to draw attention to the creative process behind the making of the wind driven machines.
     On Sunday, October 16 at 2:00 pm at the Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club, all of the winners from the first five year’s Festivals will be presented Master Crafter Certificates, honouring their abilities and creativity. The awards will be presented by Shelburne Mayor P.G. Comeau, Municipal Warden Paulette Scott and Yacht Club Commodore, Tom Darrow. The public is invited and refreshments will be served.
     One of the ideas behind the awards is also to generate interest in creating a “faculty” of expert crafters who might go on to produce more whirligigs and weathervanes and perhaps to instruct others in the craft.
     Committee members have discussed the prospect of having some of the necessary skills taught in local classes and Leslie Goulden , Shelburne Regional High School industrial arts instructor, plans such an introduction to some of his students in the spring.
     Additionally, the committee is likely to sponsor a series of public classes in the fall, taught by Goulden, for those interested in knowing more about the function and creation of these miniature wind machines.
     Another idea gaining strength among the Committee is the prospect of scheduling the Festival at a different time than Founders’ Days. “Each year, we get more and more people who come to see the great creations, “says Herschel Specter, “we think it could easily be an event which brings a whole new crowd into Shelburne and the area from the South Shore and beyond.”
     Given the growing public and media interest, combined with the obvious commitment and ambition of the new Festival committee, it does seem as though this “little festival that could” might become a mainstay of the festival season in Nova Scotia and could become yet another event that people look forward to and plan their travels around.  Timothy Gillespie is a Shelburne-based artist and writer