PARIS – Heat and humidity may have limited the crowds at the annual Founders’ Day on Paris Hill. But those who braved the oppressive weather found some new treats in addition to the traditional events since several crafters and vendors were participating for the first time.
As happens each year, many people visited Founders’ Day with one purpose in mind: to see Robert Bahre’s unique collection of antique cars.
After Kathy and Karl Anderson of Otisfield saw the cars for the first time last year, they “made a point of finding out the date this year,” he said. “It’s worth coming back for.”
Dennis Eklof, from the Boston area, would have agreed.
After seeing the collection last year, Eklof contacted fellow members of the Jaguar Association of New England and arranged an outing for the group. Twenty-eight members of JANE drove their Jaguars, some vintage and some more modern, to South Paris Saturday. After lunch at the garden cafe at McLaughlin Garden, they drove to scenic Paris Hill.
Eklof said that the group, which hosts a car show of its own, travels to one or two events a month each summer. Founder’s Day “seemed like a good opportunity to bring the group,” he said.
Founders’ Day is the only day each year when the cars are shown outside of their spacious custom garages and the collection is open to the public. Jeff Orwig, curator of Bahre’s collection, said that although he shows the cars privately to car clubs and national tours, Founders’ Day is really the best time to visit.
“It’s never better seeing the cars than with half of them outside,” he said
Admission to view the cars benefits the Hamlin Memorial Library, which organizes Founders’ Day each year.
Crafter Sarah Souza of Wilton offered hand-dyed and felted wool products. Souza started her small home-based business, Pomegranate Fiber Arts, about seven months ago. She cards, dyes and felts wool by hand to create handbags, pillows and cat toys.
Souza said her small cat toys, a felted ball of wool with a bell inside, are especially fun. They’re lightweight enough to stick to a cat’s paw, but fly off at the slightest movement. Another unusual item she creates is felted soap. Souza said the glycerin soap wrapped in felted wool is slightly exfoliating and surprisingly popular. Although this was her first year at Founders’ Day, Pomegranate Fiber Arts are available at the Norway Farmers’ Market throughout the summer.
It was also Michelle Brenner’s first year at Founders’ Day. Brenner, a Discovery Toys distributor from Casco, said that although she’d heard from other vendors that business was slow this year, she was happy with the crowds. In addition to the toys she had for sale, Brenner had set up display toys, such as a small tent that children could play in while their parents shopped. She said that she’d met people from all over the country and given out many catalogs, making the day a success for her.
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