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Jul 11, 2023

John George Farms hosts artists and artisans for first craft fair

Visitors to John George’s Ice Cream on Saturday, August 12 may have been surprised to see over 30 pop-up tents alongside it. In a first for the farm, a locally organized craft fair took over the

Visitors to John George’s Ice Cream on Saturday, August 12 may have been surprised to see over 30 pop-up tents alongside it. In a first for the farm, a locally organized craft fair took over the greenery next to the ice cream shop between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Tracey Ross-Ramos and Jackie Braley, owners of jewelry business Feeling Groovy 2Day, were the creative force behind the fair. Ross-Ramos and Braley hosted a large craft fair in Mattapoisett earlier this year, and said they’d like to continue hosting more fairs.

“It’s a beautiful space, high visibility, it’s pretty centrally located and a lot of these local artisans need to be featured,” Ross-Ramos said. “I think it brings an opportunity to support small businesses.”

“And to make friends,” Braley said.

The pair said “a lot of consideration” went into the vendor choices for the fair, and they tried to have a mix of different products on display.

Tracey Rappa, of Tracey’s Custom Creations, sold laser-printed wood, acrylic and vinyl decorations. Rappa said the laser design is her hobby: “it’s what I do when I’m not working.”

Robert and Rachel Fidalgo are North End Custom Woodworking. They create functional wooden crafts, including a dog leash holder and a wall-mounted bottle opener, as well as wood signs and decorations.

Robert’s been doing carpentry most of his life and learned woodworking at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School.

AJ Delsignor was behind one of the most colorful stands at the fair. Delsignor sells sparkling acrylic creatures, crystals and trays, which they started creating as a way to save money on Christmas presents, but soon discovered the products had some commercial value. Delsignor is also a psychic and works at Strawberry Moon in Padanaram.

“I create art that reflects some type of magic and spirit and intention to infuse the greater knowing into artistic creation,” Delsignor said.

Kelly Pacheco creates homemade themed wreaths, something she used to make just for herself before her daughter prompted her to join craft fairs.

“I’m a teacher, so this is my creative outlet,” Pacheco said.

The team at Wonky Paw Creations, comprising Jeannine and Joe Ludovicz and Jesse Dubuc, create stained glass artwork. While each of them designs and executes their own pieces, they do share some expertise.

“He taught me how to blacksmith, so I taught him how to blow glass,” Jeannine said about Dubuc. “We thought that was an equitable arrangement.”

Jeannine started the company around 20 years ago.

Pieces on display at Wonky Paw’s stand depicted a range of subjects, from animals to vegetables to spooky ghosts to suncatchers.

“You never know what people are going to like so we try to make a wide variety of things,” Dubuc said.

Ross-Ramos and Braley want to continue hosting fairs in town, including potentially coming back to John George Farms to host a fall harvest festival.