MARYSVILLE – With an oversized pair of black scissors, Mayor Dennis Kendall cut a yellow tape Friday bearing the words “Celebrating the new State of Marysville.”
The city hasn’t seceded from Washington. The new “State” is the just-completed five-lane stretch of State Avenue from First to Grove streets.
“It really looks good,” former Mayor Dave Weiser said.
The $6.4 million project took nearly a year to complete. Crews will continue to put the finishing touches on the project through the end of the month, project manager Dave Lervik said.
The ribbon-cutting also ushered in the HomeGrown Festival, which continues from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today. The festival covers much of Third Street east of State, with more than 70 booths showcasing homemade and home-grown products.
Dee Dee Fish of Granite Falls began making things as a child and eventually progressed to making things to sell. “I think I was born a crafter,” she said.
She and her daughter, Deena Elliott, sell birdhouses made of wood and coffee cans and decorated with silverware or other items. Some are mounted on shovels for planting in a garden, or on rakes to hang on a fence.
Robin Neyman of Marysville began making wooden tulips in the 1980s for her garden, and “it just blossomed from there.” She has been selling her wares at craft fairs since 1993.
“It’s my full-time job,” she said.
She lost money the first five years as she purchased supplies and developed her stock, but she’s been in the black the last three years.
“If people come in my booth and I can make them laugh, my day is done,” she said. “They don’t have to buy anything.”
Her booth includes humorous items such as a little plaque that reads, “Some days you’re the dog, some days you’re the hydrant.”
Judy Alford of Marysville makes fabric sculptures and wreaths. One display is a delicate, ruffled white wreath decorated with miniature Crayola chalk sticks, a pencil cup, sack lunch, school board and a tiny blackboard that says, “Teachers can’t live on apples alone.”
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