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.

“I started learning magic tricks and twisting balloons when I was 7,” DeVerges said. “A magician friend [Ricky Boone] taught me some magic tricks and I was very interested in learning more and also was introduced to balloon twisting. By age 9, I was performing at birthday parties for other children. As I continued to hone my skills, I worked for many parties and public events. This has even helped put me through college, too!”

Now 27, DeVerges takes his talents across the Carolinas and elsewhere. Saturday, he delighted a room full of children and adults at the McCormick Public Library when he enlisted the kids’ help in crafting a huge butterfly, probably 15 feet long, using hundreds of twisted balloons.

“I estimated I can create 726 designs,” DeVerges said. “Kids’ imaginations, and working 10 years in the minor league baseball park twisting balloons for The Asheville Tourists baseball Team, will provide for many special requests.”

Warm sunshine and a festival atmosphere kept Bonanza folks going all day long.
“Events like this are so accessible,” Lorraine said. “It’s right on Main Street and the crowds are manageable. There are local artisans and friendly people and the food is always good.”

McCormick mayor, Roy Smith Jr., said he was pleased with the large, diverse crowd the festival attracted.

Turnout was so good, one barbecue vendor sold out by noon.

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.

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!

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.”

Actually, Teresa Dennison had already been thinking about fostering or adopting, because “I don’t want Shalyn to be an only child.” And Shalyn is all on board with that.

“I want to have a younger sister, somebody I can play with all the time,” she said. “I have a friend in class who has a brother, and he said I shouldn’t get a

brother, I should get a sister, instead.”

There are plenty of sisters — and brothers — waiting for placement in foster or adoptive homes, and the need never ends, said Erica Jourdan, a Department of Social Services specialist who organized the annual festival.

  Thirty children in Buncombe County alone are cleared for adoption and awaiting families.

 

Balloon Illusions twister, Mark DeVerges, builds a custom Orange Dinosaur for Foster Festival participant

Between seven and 10 children enter the foster care system each month, and there is an ongoing need for families willing to take sibling groups and older children, as well as those living in group homes who would like to have their own family, Jourdan said. And there are more than 250 children in Buncombe County already living in foster homes.

Cheryl and Bryan Miller drove from Wilkesboro to get more information about adopting one of those children. The couple lost a daughter to cancer five years ago, have one child grown and gone and another who will leave for college next year.

The couple spent a good amount of time reading handwritten biographies and watching videotapes of children telling their stories, hoping to find a connection with a girl age 10-14.

 “It’s something we’ve always wanted to do, so we’re here to find out more about how to do it,” Cheryl Miller said.

One of a number of couples who volunteered to talk with prospective adoptive or foster parents about their experiences were Harvey Price and Roseann Ohanion, who sat at a table with their 10-year-old adopted daughter, Heather.

Heather came into the family as a foster child from the Grandfather Home when she was 5, bringing with her several physical and mental disorders, Price said. When they look at their daughter, enchanted with a festive balloon and patiently waiting for a cookie from the refreshment table, it’s not the disabilities they see.

“It’s been challenging, but there are so many rewards. When we look at how she was and how far she’s come … you really can’t put a number on the rewards,” Price said. “You just fall in love — in spite of all the issues, you fall in love.”

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?)!  

After the show everyone received a balloon animal/hat creation and went Trick-or-Treating through quaint downtown Boone.

Enjoy the pics of the event!

-Mark DeVerges

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.

“They can come here and have fun and be themselves and not be stared at or judged,” Crawford said. “Savannah gets so excited and wants to go from booth to booth, saying, ‘What’s next? What’s next?’”

The stars of this show are young, old and in between. Some are in wheelchairs. Some can’t see, some can’t hear. Some have Down syndrome, some have autism.

Many have severe developmental disabilities, and some are mentally sharp but have physical challenges.

Their common thread is a desire to have a day of fun.

To blow bubbles and wear silly balloon hats and toss beanbags and decorate cookies.

To dance — or simply nod — to live music. To peek inside a fire engine or police car, and shake the hand of a man or woman in blue.

“We get to help people with different abilities have a really great time,” said 15-year-old Chelsea Holt, a junior at West Henderson High, explaining why she volunteers at Family Fun Day each year.

“They don’t get to do a lot of stuff, and this makes them feel good about themselves because nobody pays much attention to them on other days,” she said. “On this day, we can teach them that they’re just as important as anybody else, and everybody feels special.”

Zach Rainwater, 15, a sophomore at Enka High, said the rewards he gets for volunteering at Family Fun Day don’t have a price tag.

“I like seeing all the people smiling, and greeting them and making them feel welcome,” he said. “That’s the thing here — everybody is smiling and laughing.”

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.

The ministry serves about 100 homeless people each night — 70 men and 30 women and children. It also has a substance-abuse program that serves 20 people, and it distributes about 250 boxes of food each month to families in need.

The current two buildings date back to the 1920s and were warehouses before the ministry took them over. The plan calls for a larger building to be erected where one of the buildings is now. When it is finished, the other building will be demolished and the lot will become green space, Howard said.

The Rev. David Spray, executive director of resource development, said he thinks the community will step up and give the money the ministry needs. So far the campaign has raised about $4 million.

“If the economy is tough for us, think about how it is for the people we serve,” Spray said.

Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy said the ministry is “a great example of how to care for people.”

“It is the very picture of servant-driven ministry,” she said.