DIY Street Fair, 2010

Summer ended for myself, and for most of the city of Ferndale, with an event so solid in its foundation that it's hard to believe it's only been going on for three years. For the final weekend before fall, the area of Troy street between The Emory and The WAB, along with the adjoining parking lots, is taken over with booths of local crafters and a stage just off the edge of Woodward. I spent almost all of the time I had available at the fair, because I knew that if I was at home, I would want to be there.

Last year was my first time visiting the DIY, and this year I decided that I would volunteer to help out. We had an informal meeting on the Wednesday prior to discuss a little bit what we would be asked to do. All in all there wasn't a lot of responsibility involved, just offering assistance where it was needed. I showed up Friday evening, grabbed a t-shirt and wandered around to get a feel for the atmosphere. A number of the vendors were friends of mine, so I stopped by to see them first. My favorite local artist was there, the lady behind Sloe Gin Fizz. It was at the DIY last year that I had first met her, when I walked into her booth, loved every piece of art she had, looked at her business card and said to her, "Your last name is the same as my first name." My volunteer duties were minimal, so I wandered around for the rest of the evening, running into people I knew. I felt that every time I got into conversation with someone, it never really finished, as our surroundings or other friends interrupted. It wasn't bad, as the weekend seemed to promise one distraction after another, just waiting for you to follow along.

I was tired for most of the day Saturday, but resumed volunteering shortly after noon. My time was mostly spent wandering around saying 'hi' to the vendors, offering to keep an eye on their booth if they needed to step away for a minute or to run and grab them food. Occasionally someone would bite on my offer, and between volunteer duties and talking with friends my afternoon passed fairly quickly. The one band I really wanted to see was Duende, who I had only just discovered the week before, and who once again played an awesome cover of The Talking Head's "Life During Wartime". After stocking the Porta-Johns with toilet paper I decided my volunteering had come to an end and grabbed some dinner. Many local restaurants were serving food, and The Fly Trap's fried rice seemed to be the crowd favorite as their red carry-out containers were easy to spot in many people's hands. It sat like a brick in my stomach, but was very tasty, especially with a little swat sauce. I spent the next couple hours at my friend's uncle's booth. Saturday was her birthday, but she offered to help while he attended a wedding, and I held down the stand myself so she could go around and visit friends. After we closed the booth, I watched a bit of The Electric Six before meeting up with my roommate and some bike club friends. We went to the Loving Touch to see Lettercamp, who had some bad luck with a terrible opening band that wouldn't stop playing and a power outage in the middle of a song. Despite a bad set, I won't forget the time I saw them at the Majestic Cafe and they sounded awesome. At the end of an incredibly long day, I was happy to head home to ten hours of sleep, ready for one more day.

Sunday was my opportunity to relax and just enjoy the fair. I browsed all of the booths in search of some things to buy. Not looking to spend a lot of money, I picked up some handmade bars of soap, a couple buttons and a copy of Duende's Remnant of a Remnant. After walking my purchases home I returned to close out the weekend.

As the final major acts played their sets, my friend and I ate dinner inside the Emory. Last year, I had done a similar thing with one of my friends who is now my roommate, though it was during the Friendly Foes set and I was desperately trying to get outside and see them. For being right beside the almost chaotic atmosphere of the ongoing fair, inside The Emory was very quiet. We hunkered down in a booth and waited a long time for menus and someone to take our order. I didn't mind; I had recognized our quiet time inside as a break from the craziness of the quickly ending weekend. Last year the Sights surprised everyone with a rooftop performance covering The Beatle's famous set which seemed to bring the entire city together for the event's finale. I half-expected another surprise act as the daylight waned outside the window of our table. Instead, the weekend culminated for me in a more personal way. With booths packed up and wares being loaded into cars, my friend and I took our last turns at the beer tent. Every time one of us turned around we were running into someone else we knew. My neighbor who I've hardly gotten to know was there and we talked with her for a while. She even invited the two of us to come over sometime. Out of tickets, our friend serving beer gave us several freebies, and I ran into someone from bike club who I'd seen as many times as anyone else over the course of the weekend. Standing there among a quickly thinning crowd, I observed and said to her that "We are the new generation", and while I was talking about our roles as leaders of the Ferndale bike club, I've been realizing how that applies on a grander scale. Perhaps my youth is catching up with me. This summer has certainly had a lot to do with rediscovering myself and my intentions. Conversations with friends and strangers on a closed off street in my new hometown perfectly capped the climactic weekend of Summer 2010.