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The Lesson Of The Rubber Duck

7/14/2018

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      Friday night a week ago, July 6, the Gahanna Area Arts Council (see post from 3/5/2018),
...held it's premier First Friday Arts in the Alley, an event the purpose of which was to promote community interest in local creatives (those who create),  
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...and to transform  Gahanna, Ohio,
...already a delightful place in its own rite,
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...into a thriving arts community that celebrates its artists, musicians, poets, performers, writers, and creators of all genres and media.
    Being myself a member of the Gahanna Area Arts Council,
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...or maybe more of a part-time member; er, maybe a part-time occasional hanger-on-type member...Anyway, I'm on the email list and so I the  received the GAAC announcement that the organizers were looking for local creatives to represent at First Friday Arts in the Alley festivals in July, August, and September.
    And so I bought a space for each date - $60 altogether for all three events, a phenomenal deal, thought I - from which to sell my creation.
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     As my $20 fee clinched me a huge spot - 10' x 10', just for me - I decided to go big with my display, of which I did a practice-set-up in my living room.
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    On the evening of the event I arrived at my designated space in a meadow bordered by the back of the alley off Mill Street, the main drag through the neighborhood known as Olde Gahanna,
   (Mill Street)
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...where other artists and vendors were already setting up.
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   There were also some representatives of community organizations,
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...including the Columbus Art League,
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...the representa-tive of which, a friendly, super-nice guy named Kevin, helped me and others set up our spaces.
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     Now, as I was setting up my space and observing others setting up theirs, I noticed from the corner of my eye some unusual activity going on nearby.
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   It appeared that a giant rubber duck was inflating to life.
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    It was, indeed, a giant rubber duck. With metal rings attached to its middle.
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   After the duck was inflated there was a flurry of activity around it,
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...as workers fiddled with it then set up easels and photographs.
   However by then event-goers were beginning to arrive,
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...and so I had no time to walk over and check out the duck, as I had to woman my table.
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     Eventually Tom - who'd arrived with me but had to run back home to pick up some provisions I'd forgotten to bring - returned to man the table for me for a while and I was able to stroll around the grounds and have a look at the displays of some of the other artists and vendors.
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  A piano-painting activity.
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    As I strolled around the festival - which I was finding quite delightful - it occurred to me that that best real estate of the evening was the spaces that were located at the end of the alley close to Mill Street.
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...which was where the crowds were mostly congregating,
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...until I realized that, though most of the action was in the alley or near the front end of the meadow,
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...everybody eventually meandered over to see the giant rubber duck,
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...of necessity passing by my table on their way.
     And I'm sure it was thanks to the duck that I sold a decent number of books that night.
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     Towards the end of the evening I had time to go look at the duck myself and learn its story.
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     The description on the easel read:
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     And I thought to myself,  What a wonderful world this could be.
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    At the end of the night, after everyone had packed up and the rubber duck had deflated down to two big bright yellow mounds, Tom and I decided to grab a bite at the Gahanna Grill,
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...which somehow looked kind of magical.
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    "Hail Mary"
    by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888

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    "Equal And Opposite Reactions"
     by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
    or from
    The Book Loft
    of German Village,
    Columbus, Ohio
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    Or check it out at the Columbus Metropolitan Library
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