It’s cloudy and gray here today and this morning is quiet…a pleasant change from yesterday when 80 seventh graders from the Belfast Middle School came piling out of two buses at 9:00AM…a sight that always makes me wish I had drank more coffee 🙂 These were great kids here for a day of history, science, math, art and play…so we started with the play…have you ever led 80 kids in a game of Simon Says…nothing like a little competition to get the blood pumping and the brains engaged. After an intense 10 minutes, Rochelle Soohey of Searsmont won the grand prize of 25 barley pops to share with friends.  As a group they followed a nature walk with plant identification all the way to Moose Point State Park.  Local reporter and historian Peter Taber met them at the point of the campground for a lecture on the History of Penobscot Bay from both a maritime and an agricultural perspective with a bit of pirate lore thrown in for general interest.

When free time came after lunch, the students had their choice of basketball, video arcade games, soap bubble games, art or dress-up…it’s nice to report that interest in the high tech stuff fell far short of good old fashioned play.

When we waved the buses goodbye, textile collector Richard Johnson came in with just a small portion of treasures he’s gathered from a lifetime of work and travel in Pakistan and Afganistan.  From his current winter home in California he generously shipped a 17′ celebration tent he purchased in Afghanistan so that Fiber College could use it to shelter the information booth in September.  This tent is the definition of exhuberant.  It’s entirely hand pieced and sewn in bold graphic designs  that are strikingly similar to our piecework quilts.  This first photo is Richard holding his end while we unpacked the tent and the second is a detail of just a few of the squares.  When I get caught up on the Fiber College website, I’ll post more photos of Richard’s collection which contains wedding dresses, cushions, curtains and shoes…you’ll be able to see them for yourself if you can make it to the College on September 7-9 of this year.