Al Burk, of Sykesville, visited the Waterfowl Festival in Easton about 30 years ago when he decided to try his hand at carving birds out of wood. An insurance man with a knack for drawing, Burk was a quick study. The next year, he was accepted to display and sell his art at the Easton Firehouse during the three-day festival.
Burk, now 73, advanced steadily through the hierarchy of festival exhibit halls until he reached rock star status: a table in the Easton Armory, where the world’s top carvers display wooden mallards, mergansers, Canada geese and other waterfowl priced from $1,000 up to $100,000.
This weekend, Burk and hundreds of fellow artists who paint, carve, sculpt and photograph ducks and geese will help transform the 300-year-old town into an annual tribute to the birds that migrate through the Chesapeake Bay region each fall.
The streets will fill with the honking of geese — some from humans who will compete in the World Championship Goose Calling Contest, some from actual birds flying South this time every year. Store windows will depict duck blinds or show off camouflage clothing and accessories for Labrador retrievers. The town will smell like crab soup and oyster stew.
More than 15,000 people are expected this year at the festival, which grew from the inspiration of two community leaders in 1971.
Harry Walsh and the late William Perry noted the influx of hunters in Easton each fall for goose season. The hunters brought their wives, who explored the antique shops and art galleries while their husbands were in the fields. The couples filled restaurants after the hunt and praised the regional food, historic buildings and local hospitality.
Festival organizers “wanted to celebrate not only the migration of the geese but the migration of the hunters,” said Rae Copper, event coordinator for the festival.
Since then, the Waterfowl Festival has grown into one of the region’s signature events, while making its stamp on the art world and launching the careers of Burk and other artists. “It’s not the easiest show to get into,” Burk said.
Copper shared the story of carver Jim Robison, of Hopedale, Ill., a world-class sculptor who’s had some pieces that take a year to create. The festival inspired him to quit his day job in the early 1990s to become a full-time artist. He arrived at the show with $500, enough art to fill an exhibit table and no means of returning home. “He sold his entire table and the rest is history,” Copper said.
Despite its status as a showcase for premier artists and a magnet for collectors, the festival is really for anyone who enjoys the outdoors in Maryland this time of year. It’s a trip through the history of the Bay region that touches on all the senses.
Some samples:
At the workshop at Easton Elementary School, artists discuss and demonstrate this specialty craft. There, carvers transform blocks of wood into feathery green-winged teal, canvasback or pintail ducks. Artists discuss the number of feathers on a Mallard wing and how the plumage of a juvenile wood duck erupts into a palette of blues, greens, browns and orange.
At Easton High School, decoy sellers reflect on the birth of the art. For centuries, hunters used decoys to fool wild birds into stopping for lunch in a particular field or marsh. The best carvers were admired for lifelike birds that best aided hunters. Apparently hunters returned home with a favored decoy and perched it on the mantel. It not only inspired high-end art, but raised the value of “authentic” decoys that also are sold at the festival.
Those who tire of ducks and geese can watch falconry, fly fishing and retriever demonstrations. This past year, the festival launched DockDogs, a competition to see which dog could leap the farthest from a town dock. More than 250 dogs competed, Cooper said. The festival also includes a Maryland wine tent, book signings and displays of the wildlife projects that have benefited from the festival.
The festival has raised more than $5 million for programs that benefit wildlife that live or travel through the Chesapeake Bay region.
In addition, it’s become a huge boost to the local economy, Copper said. An economic impact report showed the event generated $5.8 million to the Talbot County economy from out-of-county visitors.
Beyond those proceeds, local nonprofits handle all festival food sales. For some, Copper said, “It is the fundraiser for them for the entire year.”
For all the benefits, there’s one setback. Saturday is the opening day of Maryland goose season, and hunters will have trouble finding a hotel in Easton. Such is the price of success.
