Giant Craft Show Thrives Despite the Weather

Dismal weather couldn't keep shoppers away from the Giant Craft Show sponsored by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association on Saturday. The event was on Ocean Pathway, between the Great Auditorium and Ocean Avenue.

SATURDAY'S heavy mist and threatening skies might not have made for a day at the beach, but they were perfect conditions to shop in, according to organizers of  the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association's Giant Craft Show, held on Ocean Pathway.

"The weather is what we want," said event co-chair Mark Mitchell. "The people aren't at the beach. They're here."

According to Mitchell, 275 vendors registered for the event. Past shows usually had  between 250 and more than 300 vendors, but this year the size of the show was reduced, in part to accommodate more food services.

"We wanted it to be more shopper-friendly, too," said co-chair Alison Mitchell.

By mid-morning, the already-large crowd, which grew as more people entered Ocean Pathway from the direction of the beachfront, had an eclectic assortment of goods to choose from.

Selections included children's clothes, crushable hats, stained glass, origami, bird feeders, wooden toys, handmade soaps, totes, jewelry, mosaics, paintings, wooden furniture, memorial quilts, and what one confident baker called "The World's Best Caribbean Rum Cake."

Then there was The Tooth Fairy: Fossil Art by Jim and Julie. The Tooth Fairy is Jim Forrest, and the titular teeth are shark teeth--millions-years-old shark teeth, which have been set as jewelry.

Forrest, of Wanamassa, said he's been collecting the teeth for 55 years and selling his fossil art at the Ocean Grove craft shows since 2001. He sees more demand for his work in coastal areas than in the northern part of the state. "I used to do shows in North Jersey, but the interest's not so good," he said.

The teeth are found in Beaufort County, South Carolina, about five miles from the ocean, said Forrest's assistant, Chris Rogoff.

Sometimes more than teeth are found. What Forrest identified as a fossilized dolphin vertebra and a fossilized shark vertebra were each set in necklaces made of semi-precious stones. Forrest said the vertebrae, as well as the teeth, were around 10 million years old.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Pathway, Laura Bartley, of Laura's Unique Boutique, was at a table making another one of the products she was selling: duct tape wallets.

The wallets, in bright colors and patterns, had the design and solidity of classic billfolds with slots for credit cards.

 "I've been using mine for about two years now. It's still holding up,"  said Bartley, a resident of Manalapan.