US/TX/Austin/14th Texas Bamboo Festival/Aug 26-27, 2006 [Archive]

CaroleMeckes

28th January 2007, 12:22 AM

On Friday, August 25, 2006, Texas Bamboo Society members began to gather at Zilker Botanical Garden (http://www.zilkergarden.org), Austin, Texas, to set up for the 14th Annual Texas Bamboo Festival. Jim and Judith Bussey arrived mid afternoon from East Texas, and Maurice and Nancy Holcomb, new TBS members from Willis, Texas, also arrived early to help set up.

Setting up - Ed Pechacek from Rivers End Nursery in South Texas was the first bamboo plant vendor to arrive. Soon Steve Muzos - Bamboo Bend, John and Darwin Nelson - Bamboo Texas, and Grady Magnum - Happy Sprout Farm, arrived and set up a great selection of bamboo plants and the festival began to take shape. Keith Wahrer of Daily Juice set up a vending booth outside offering refreshing & delicious fruit juices, lemonade and tea. Keith's Daily Juice Bar is hard to miss on Barton Springs Road. There is a large clumping bamboo just in front of his shop - it is on your right as you drive toward Lamar Blvd when you leave Zilker. Will Harjo - Harjo Flutes, set up outside with his collection of handmade Native American flutes and jewelry. Meanwhile, Anne Muzos went to the airport & picked up our featured speaker, Darrel DeBoer, and they soon joined the set-up crew.

Inside the auditorium, "Thangmaker" (Frank Meyer) was constructing a sign for his booth. Frank has worked in the building trades for more than 30 years and has hands on experience in just about every facet of residential construction. He also works with bamboo, straw bale, and his latest fascination is earthen floors, mixing clay and sand. http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/data/525/thumbs/TBFest060827-3676.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2007) Many of you may remember Frank, who is also a musician, as he entertained us all during the banquet dinner at the ABS meeting in Houston in October 2005.

During the festival, Mark Meckes, showed some of his bamboo sculptures designating the funds generated to help support the Bamboo Arts and Craft Network, a nonprofit educational website, http://www.bamboocraft.net, for bamboo crafters and growers. This is the very site that you are currently visiting!

Fred Tate - Jewelry Designs showcased his unique black bamboo rhizome and silver bamboo jewelry designs. Aida Nino came from San Antonio with Latin American Handcrafts, Peruvian Bamboo Instruments and serenaded us with music of the Wayanay Inca. Anyone who remembers the 1997 ABS Conference in Austin will remember the Wayanay's live performance at the Zilker Club House on that very rainy night. Carole Meckes - Bamboo Branch, with her handcrafted bamboo beads, buttons, pendants, jewelry and assorted bamboo pieces and parts added to the bamboo karma. Kaylen Savoie showed his new bamboo watercolor paintings. Jim and Judith Bussey took care of the registration table and Bev McGrath was the head cashier. Harry Simmons donated a unique collection of bamboo items he had collected in Thailand for the raffle. Additional thanks go to the many members who donated bamboo plants for sale.

News 8 Austin, a local TV news station arranged to do their morning show from the BAMBOO FESTIVAL! Someone had to be there at dawn on Saturday morning, so somehow I made it to the festival at the crack of dawn! I used my drill press and Dremel, and demonstrated drilling a hole in a piece of bamboo. I was latter told by a friend that they replayed my drilling demonstration over and over again. The News 8 team interviewed several different bamboo people and it was great publicity. At 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Darrel DeBoer, architect and furniture-maker, entertained us on the big screen. Darrel's topic was "Bamboo Architecture Around the World." On Saturday from 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m., the Hiphuggers Rock Band played music outside. Band members, Robin Kenney and Sam Murski, live in a bamboo jungle in Brenham, Texas, and enjoy creating things out of bamboo, including their guitar stands and equipment stands for the band. Michael Holeman joined them on drums.

At 5:00 p.m. the Texas Bamboo Society Annual Meeting was held in the auditorium. Reverend Viet, from the Buu Mon Buddhist Temple in Port Arthur, Texas, invited TBS members to have a bamboo festival at their temple in November. The TBS graciously accepted the invitation. Kinder Chambers, Patricia Hillery and Carole Meckes were recognized for their years of service to TBS and were awarded lifetime memberships in the American Bamboo Society. Steve Muzos was elected the new TBS Representative to the American Bamboo Society and would attend the October ABS Annual Meeting in Hawaii. Steve Muzos and Grady Magnum were elected to fill two TBS Director positions. After the TBS BOD meeting on Sunday afternoon, it was announced that Steve Muzos is the new President of the Texas Bamboo Society.

On Saturday evening 36 bamboo folks relaxed and enjoyed dinner catered by the Bamboo Garden restaurant.

Sunday: In the morning a small group attended a Bamboo Bead Making Workshop and at 1 pm Darrel DeBoer continued his presentation on “Bamboo Architecture Around the World.” We had a full house on both Saturday and Sunday. After Darrel's presentation, we needed to clear the center of the room for Jackie's Fundanzers Dance Troupe, so everyone moved their chairs and formed a big circle and enjoyed the dance performance of "The Silver Thread" - choreographed by Mark Sharon.

The next Texas Bamboo Festival will be #15.
The 15th Annual Texas Bamboo Festival will be held at Zilker Botanical Garden on Saturday and Sunday, August 25 -26, 2007. If you would like to be part of this event please use the "contact us" form at the bottom of this page. Advance planning is underway...

My Best Bamboo Regards to All,
Carole Meckes