By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Jacob Howe, 8, and Patric Szczepanski, 7, were learning how to plant seeds and getting a vocabulary lesson at the same time Saturday during Sea Isle City’s first ever Green Fair and Art Fair.
The two friends watched carefully while Sea Isle Green Team member Anne Finley showed them how to take a scoop of dirt from a container and sprinkle it on tiny viola seeds.
“When you plant this in your garden, it will come back next year. It’s called a perennial,” Finley explained to the boys about violas, a member of the violet family of flowers.
Afterward, Patric made it clear that he had paid close attention to what Finley had told him and Jacob.
“I learned what perennial means. It means that the plants will come back next year,” Patric said while his grandparents, Georgann and Tom Tallos, of Philadelphia, proudly nodded their heads in approval.
Jacob, meanwhile, said he had a good time planting the seeds. Asked what he had liked the most, he exclaimed, “Everything.”
Sea Isle officials were hoping that everyone attending the inaugural Green Fair and Art Fair would have a similarly enthusiastic reaction about a free event that combined fun, education and live entertainment.
Fairgoers learned about flowers, trees, wildlife, marine life and other facets of the ecosystem during the environmentally friendly show at Excursion Park, just steps away from the beach and ocean.
They also watched demonstrations on how to create artwork using recycled or repurposed materials.
Sea Isle City’s Department of Community Services, Environmental Commission, Shade Tree Committee, Green Team and Chamber of Commerce hosted the event. The Environmental Commission also gave away 30 free trees to the winners of a raffle.
“It went very well for being the first time,” said Christie Ostrander, a Sea Isle City Recreation Office assistant who supervised the event.
Sea Isle plans to have the Green Fair and Art Fair become an annual attraction. Ostrander noted the event was part of Sea Isle’s participation in Sustainable Jersey, a statewide program that awards New Jersey municipalities grants for projects that promote and protect the environment.
Ostrander is part of Sea Isle’s Green Team and oversees the city’s Sustainable Jersey programs. Recently, she helped the city create a monarch butterfly garden in Townsends Inlet Waterfront Park in another project inspired by Sea Isle’s involvement with the Sustainable Jersey program.
For the Green Fair and Art Fair, Sea Isle brought in local artists – including some who use recycled or repurposed materials – to give the event another environmentally friendly twist.
“Art is a format that makes everyone feel good,” Ostrander said.
One of the artists, Nancy Bucher, had her portraits and nature-inspired oil paintings on display. Bucher, who lives in Sea Isle, said she was glad that her hometown sponsored an arts fair that allowed her to showcase her talents.
“I think it’s a great concept,” Bucher said of the event. “I think that for the first year, they’ve done pretty well. I can only hope it will grow. I’ve done the Stone Harbor arts show and it’s nice to have one in my hometown now.”
Bucher was joined by some of her fans at the arts fair. Jen and Mike Sweeney, Sea Isle residents, have bought some of Bucher’s artwork in the past and have what they call “Nancy’s row” of her paintings on display in their house.
“She’s an amazing artist,” Jen Sweeney said.
Jen Sweeney noted that, as a housewarming gift, Bucher created a painting of the Sweeney’s three children, Matt, Blaire and Justin, in the ocean.
At the arts fair, the Sweeneys were admiring some of Bucher’s other paintings on display for sale.
“We might be buying more,” Jen Sweeney said, smiling.
