Spring is off to a great start! The flowers are blooming, the weather has finally warmed, and my calendar is getting full! This past weekend, I was a headliner for McCormick County’s Spring Bonanza! I had never been there before, but was impressed by this fun place!  I twisted balloons form morning to noon, then prepaired for a mega Balloon Show where we built a MASSIVE balloon butterfly! What fun!! Afterwards, in case folks hadn’t had their fill of balloons, we then had a Balloon Party where everyone helped themselves to over 200 balloons to twist their own creations (I was there to guide as well). We had SOOOOOOOOOOO much fun, I even made it to the front page of the newspaper!! Here’s a copy of the fun article :

SPRING BONANZA: McCormick festival had something for everyone

Entertainer Mark DeVerges twists balloons into a butterfly wing shape while 6-year-old Courtney Lamb of McCormick waits to add them to the purple balloon and try them on for size. (Staff photo by St. Claire Donaghy)

By ST. CLAIRE DONAGHY/ sdonaghy@indexjournal.com

Monday, April 19, 2010 9:00 AM EDT

McCORMICK – Whether the hot air variety or those that you inflate and twist into shapes, balloons were a big part of the fourth Spring Bonanza in McCormick Saturday.

… entertainer Mark DeVerges, of Asheville, who won hearts of all ages with his scores of balloon animal creations. Read the rest of this entry »

I am excited about performing again at tomorrow’s Easter Eggstravaganza hosted by the city at Carrier Park from 2-4pm. I’ll be there twisting balloons and then hopping on stage to build a massive balloon bunny rabbit. It’d be great to see you and yours at this fun FREE event. Feel free to forward this along!

Here’s more:

Asheville teams with Bojangles for Easter EggstravaganzaFrom a city of Asheville news release:

CELEBRATE EASTER WITH BOJANGLES’ EASTER EGGSTRAVAGANZA
Asheville, NC – Pack up the family, grab your baskets, and join Asheville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department and the Easter Bunny for the area’s largest FREE Easter celebration at the Bojangles’ Easter Eggstravaganza!  The day will be full of Easter fun with giant inflatables, crafts, face painting, balloon twists, and a performance by the Mountain Thunder Cloggers, on Saturday, March 27 from 2-4 p.m. at Carrier Park, located along the French Broad River on Amboy Road.  Egg hunts for ages 4-10 will be held at 4 p.m., with a special egg area set up for ages 3 and under.  All children will receive a free Easter goody bag.  Bring your camera for a family photo with the Easter Bunny, who will be on hand to entertain and visit.  Do the chicken dance with Bo, the Bojangles’ Chicken, and enjoy a free Bo-Berry biscuit!  YUM!
All festivities are produced by Asheville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department and sponsored by Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits.  For information call 828-253-3714 or visit http://www.ashevillenc.gov.

It’s always great to be called on by any group associated with the Scouting movement. As you may know, I grew up within the Boy Scouts of America and always had an appreciation for the sister organization – Girl Scouts of America. I especially love their cookies (who doesn’t)!

As a celebration for a particularly successful Cookie selling fundraiser season, Weaverville Girl Scout Troop 26, invited me to be a part of their fun celebration.

I was impressed with the turnout and excitement at this event. As always, I made several hundred balloon items – some of the big hits at this event were my large Heart Scepters… what fun!

Well despite the snow and unusually fridgid weather here in Asheville forcing events to change times and dates – it has been a busy season! There have been a few birthday parties of magic shows and balloons galore, a WNC Magic Club Vaudeville Magic Show, but one event was particularly close to my heart. As you may know, the Boy Scouts of America is an organization I have been a part of through childhood whereby I ultimately earned my Eagle Scout Award. Through the Scouts, there are special ceremonies at a few benchmark stages of one’s progression in the program. One such ceremony is the Blue and Gold Ceremony for Cub Scouts. I was honored to be asked to perform for Cub Scout Troop 73’s Blue & Gold Ceremony this month. It was great. I throughly enjoyed the interest and involvement of these young adults. As an added bonus, I brought one of my first Magic Books – a Cub Scout Magic Book from the 1960’s and included a few tricks in my show that the Scouters could learn themselves. Afterwards they enjoyed a big balloon party.

Ahh…The joys of the Holiday Season and the beginning of fun Company Parties and Family Events. This last Friday night officially kicked off my Holiday Party Season with a festive gala for Genova Diagnostics. What fun! Everyone was decked out with their Holiday Spirit.  

I was able to build full Reindeer masks out of balloons, spiral candy canes – almost taller than the kids, and huge colorful hats. I’m looking forward to the next several programs!

By: Barbra Blake – Photos  By: Erin Brethauer

ASHEVILLE — It was an interesting series of events that brought Teresa Dennison from her home in Mills River to the annual WNC Foster/Adopt Fall Festival in Asheville. She joined several hundred people to learn more about giving a child a temporary or permanent home.

Mark DeVerges presents a Pink Balloon Poodle

“I saw this movie called ‘Hotel for Dogs,’ and the two kids in it were fostered,” Shalyn interrupted politely over the din of voices filling the large room at Coleman Place. “We talked about it, and she (mom) said she’d buy this book about adoption to learn more about it.” Read the rest of this entry »

We just came back from a rocking great time at the annual Boone “Boo Fest” in Boone, NC.

The Halloween extravaganza kicked off with a mega balloon show culminating in the creation of a 10 FOOT HUGE BALLOON SPIDER! The children were great as they all helped by guessing what the various pieces were and where they attached to each other. They even learned some science, spider anatomy (do YOU know what a cephalothorax is?)!   Read the rest of this entry »

September 27, 2009

No limits get in way of a special fun day
By Barbara Blake

On one special day each year, adults and children with disabilities are the toast of Asheville.

On this day, there are no curious stares from “normal” bystanders. No cruel jokes or whispered snickers. No sidelong glances or averted eyes. No ridicule. No judgment.

On Saturday, they came in droves to the Stephens Lee Recreation Center to celebrate Family Fun Day in the warm embrace of their families and friends and a vast network of volunteers, public servants and staff members whose life’s work is with the disabled.

Jennifer Crawford brought her 10-year-old daughter, Savannah, who has cerebral palsy, to join in the celebration. Read the rest of this entry »

May 14, 2009

Ministry kicks off $7 million capital campaign

By Leslie Boyd

Promising an “explosive” event, Western Carolina Rescue Ministries kicked off the public portion of its $7 million capital campaign Wednesday morning.

The Rev. Vic Howard, CEO of the ministry, said the organization is stepping out on faith to raze an old building and build a new one that will allow it to serve almost twice as many people.

The explosion came at the end of the event, when a dozen confetti-filled balloons inside a large canopy were popped as the unsuspecting crowd stood underneath. Read the rest of this entry »