Ellwood Fest features unusual crafts this weekend

ELLWOOD CITY, pa.

It was shortly before 11 p.m. Friday, when the singing of the national anthem would announce the beginning of the 32nd Annual Arts, Crafts and Food festival.

Rick and Sue Cox, like all the other vendors gathered at Ewing Park, were putting the finishing touches on their display in anticipation of what was likely to be throngs of people. Crowds clog the three-day festival every year, which always ends with a fireworks show the last night.

Unlike the other vendors, though, they were surrounded by a wire cage. Outside the cage were bears, a mountain lion, a pelican and an eagle.

Though no cage captured the spirit of these animals, they were immobilized, and immortalized, in wood.

The Edinburg, Pa., couple were going to show people, from the safety of the cage, how they take an ordinary log and turn it into something extraordinary. To do it, they’ll rev up a chain saw. Emerging from the noise and the dust will be another piece of art, all the more astounding for how it was created, to add to the collection in front of the cage.

“We’ve been traveling around the East Coast doing this for a living since 2006,” Sue said.

They go to festivals and fairs, but will go to someone’s home to carve a tree.

They’re far from the only vendors who return yearly to the festival, which not only showcases arts and crafts but is Ellwood’s Fourth of July celebration.

For the complete story, read Sunday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.