The Southern Wildlife Festival, Decatur, Alabama. Part 1

Mark you calendars for mid October 2009. The Southern Wildlife Festival in Decatur, Alabama draws a crowd from North and Mid-Alabama and Southern Tennessee. This past year however, was a little sparse crowd wise, to say the least. There were a few things that hindered turn-out. One, and probably the most prominent being the economy. Things are tight and one of the first things the average consumer forgoes are non-essentials, art being one of them. Something else I noticed was the lack of promotion. That is something I know little about and will leave that to the more qualified. However, radio, ads in free community papers, call a news channel, or local blogs will help in bringing a better turn out. The last thing was the absence of a few of the cornerstone artists. One of those missing was Larry Chandler.
I didn’t know Mr. Chandler very well, though he recognized me at shows and we would chit-chat. The first time we met, I was working in an art/custom frame store. He was having us cut matting for one of his prints of a bird dog paintings. After talking some, we found out one of the dogs he painted a few years earlier was the great, great, great, granddad (somewhere down the line) of one of the dogs I had just finished painting –small world! He passed away in March or April of 2007 if memory serves. His wife and friends had set up his booth, but it just wasn’t the same. He was a wonderful artist and truly personable. He will be missed.
There is a solid foundation in place to build the SWF into a miniature version of the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, South Carolina held every February. I’m not sure how many people actually helped build the Southern Wildlife Festival, but I know one person, and that being Beverly, that did a lot and has done a lot in the past. Maybe some of us could pitch in next year and help her bring back the SWF’s former glory.