Fair Raffle Item

This year’s Fair Raffle item has been graciously donated by Don Noyes, who has exhibited his whimsical carved creatures at the Fair since 1996.

His work is showcased in the August 2012 issue of Early American Life magazine, where he has achieved the highest award as a traditional artisan with a listing in the Directory of Traditional American Crafts published in that issue. Judges from across the nation rated his handcraft as showing mastery of the art form, heritage techniques, and workmanship.

Noyes’s carvings are influenced by Pennsylvania German folk art designs of the early 19th century. “I grew up with a penknife in my pocket and whittled all my life,” he says, and in 1991 got serious about his carving. Birds and bird trees are now joined by mirrors, lamps, whirlygigs, and many one-of-a-kind items, each decorated by his wife Janie (and many of which fill their Ohio house, a converted barn). See his website for a gallery of works.

The delightful item is hand carved and hand painted, and while Noyes would say their colorful decorations are not “God’s birds” but his designs, the birds in this piece still seem to come to life on their perches.

Raffle tickets are $3 apiece or four for $10; they will be on sale at the Fair, with the winner to be drawn Sunday afternoon, October 7. (You also can purchase them now at the Corner Store in Waterford, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday.