By Staff
AIR BRUSH Lisa Neal, an artist with Art Unlimited of Collinsville, air brushes a Little League Baseball helmet at the 14th annual Collinsville Lively Arts Festival on Saturday. Neal manned one of several booths at the festival in the northwest Lauderdale County community. Photo by Fredie Carmichael / The Meridian Star
By Fredie Carmichael / staff writer
May 5, 2002
Hundreds of northwest Lauderdale County residents attended the 14th annual Collinsville Lively Arts Festival on Saturday despite heavy rains that soaked craft and food booths.
More than 25 businesses and organizations manned booths in front of the Collinsville Volunteer Fire Department off Highway 19 North, selling food, arts and crafts and other goods.
Rowell said the festival originally began as a way to promote the community. Over the past 14 years, she said, the festival has evolved into a major county event.
Activities began about 7 a.m. Saturday as people began setting up booths and cooking food. A business fair took place before lunch in the nearby community development club building.
A. J. Wedgeworth, vice president of the community development club, helped cook more than 400 fried chickens for the event all of which were sold by 2 p.m. Saturday.
The festival wrapped about 3 p.m., as many groups began taking down their booths.
Lisa Neal, an artist with Art Unlimited of Collinsville, stayed around and painted T-shirts, license plates, helmets and other things for a few waiting customers.