The 53^rd Annual Allentown Art Festival saw its ups and downs with sales AND the weather. Saturday was hot, humid, and threatening. Sunday was cool, gray and threatening. I talked to several of the vendors. Two told me they were on pace for record sales. Most told me this was not a good year and they were leaving a bit disappointed.

Jody Ziehm, though, was walking on air. The local artist and art teacher learned her watercolor of Times Square won the 2010 Best of Show! She is on a hot streak. Looking back on my Newsroom Notebook from August 4, 2008, when I first met Jody at the Allentown Art Festival, she had just received a blue ribbon for her watercolor of a yellow cab parked outside the Riviera Theatre. At the 2009 Allentown Art Festival, she was sporting a red ribbon on her watercolor of Aretha Franklin singing at President Obama’s inauguration. This year she took the Festival’s top prize and said she was so thrilled she was moved to tears. You can see her talented work at jodyziehm.com.

Shirley Walker said she also broke down in tears when one of her photographs won the big Purchase Award sponsored by the Mentholatum Company. Shirley is a veteran photographer who has been exhibiting at Allentown since 1991. She says she’s won many ribbons over the years, but this is her first-ever Purchase Award and she is excited. I met Shirley several years ago when she began volunteering her time and photographic talent for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She does weddings, portraits and much more. Find details at heirloomphotobyshirley.com.

Mark Callen is also a local photographer and he was enjoying strong sales in this his fourth year exhibiting at Allentown. Mark takes views of local landmarks and said his new line of coasters featuring Buffalo buildings was a hot seller this year. Markcallenphotography.com features his work.

There was a lot of talk this year on Facebook and elsewhere about the ‘big dog’ parade. Were there more of them than normal? I was more fascinated by the number of small dogs I saw being transported in a variety of ways. Some were on a leash and some were hand-carried. I saw one, content as could be, on the bottom of a stroller. Most unusual of all were the wheels for Dora from Depew. Dora’s owner told me she purchased a bright pink push-cart for Dora just for occasions such as the Allentown Art Festival. She pushed Dora around the exhibits…just as if Dora were a baby in a stroller.

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Finally, a tip of the cowboy hat to members of the Erie County Sheriff’s Mounted Division who helped keep the peace and helped keep the crowd entertained just by their presence. Officers Wayne Wolf, Joanne Paxon, and Ruby Davis made the rounds on their trusty steeds. I have to say I got a smile out of watching Joanne and Ruby make their last-minute jewelry purchases on horseback. A humorous way to mark the end of the 2010 Allentown Art Festival.

Jacquie with Officers Wayne Wolf, Joanne Paxon, and Ruby Davis

Jewelry shopping on horseback