GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) - On Tuesday, City Park was populated by bears - wooden ones. Crafted by one of around 30 artisans populating the park, the bears were popular among visitors, sitting and taking pictures on a bear-adorned bench while visiting the 30th-anniversary festival for the Crandall Public Library Folklife Center.
"These are my first benches," said Peter Winter, who lives and practices his woodworking craft in North Creek. "I did that one (indicating a bench with a bear on each side) first, and had it sitting in front of some pictures of bears. A lady asked 'Well where's the bench with the bears behind it?' So I figured out how to do one with bears behind it," indicating a second bench he was sitting on.
Woodworkers, weavers, blacksmiths, and other folk artists worked under tents, showing off unique forms of hands-on crafts and chatting with onlookers as the day went on. Some demonstrators came from around the North Country and Capital Region, with others coming from near Canada, like Canton-based fiber weaver Mathilde Frances Lind.
"I've been doing this for at least 13 years," said Lind - program director at Traditional Arts in Upstate New York - as she spun colorful pink-orange wool on a 1789 wheel believed to originate in Syracuse. "I actually just finished my Ph.D. in folklore, specializing in woolcrafts - and that started because of this."
Thirty is a big year for the Folklife Center. Located in Crandall Public Library's basement floor, the center curates collections of folk art and other materials that chronicle the history of the Glens Falls region, as well as the Adirondacks and Hudson Valley at large. Founding Director Todd DeGarmo has been there for it all.
"The whole point of the Folklife Center is to celebrate the region - in terms of its history, its culture, its heritage," said DeGarmo. "What's wonderful, being embedded in a regional library, is I can look back and go, 'Oh wow, what a wonderful ride' - but also look ahead and go 'We're going to be here for a while.'"
That means that for DeGarmo and his staff, the work is never quite done. The center also acts as a resource for new people, families, and communities visiting or moving to the region. Earlier this year, a delegation from Saga City, Japan, visited Glens Falls to celebrate 35 years of sister city partnership. When the delegation came to the Folklife Center, they saw photos, artwork and artifacts calling back to different points in the history of the Glens Falls area.
They also posed with a familiar pair of bears. A carving of an adult bear and cub climbing a tree was acquired by the center earlier in 2023 - created by Winter himself. For the 30-year artisan, the craft was a way to bring joy back to the world after the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I went to the guitar store - they were closing. I went to the supermarket to get some food - an employee's husband died, and she was crying," Winter recalled. "A tree near me was hit by lightning, I cleared it out and decided to make a happy bear. Someone came and bought it, really liked it, and I picked it back up as a way to make the world happier."
The festival was organized by the folklife center in cooperation with New York Folklore, of Schenectady, and Traditional Arts in Upstate New York, of Canton. See more photos from the festival.
