MORGANTOWN — First, you add one bead.
Then another.
Then one more.
Another …
Wait. You’ll need to put one there to balance it all out.
And, you’re done.
Makensie Higgins, the artisan for this project, eased back in her chair to appraise her creative work.
“Yep,” the 6-year-old from Mountainview Elementary School said.
“Makensie, that’s beautiful,” said Sabah Karayegen, the Mountainview Elementary educator who was there with her. “Be sure and take that with you.”
Makensie was among the multitudes from across the region who descended upon Mylan Park for the snowy day.
More than 600 students filed through the doors of the Hazel and J.W. Ruby Community Center to take part in the annual SteppingStones Arts Festival.
SteppingStones is the Morgantown-based outreach agency that since 1946 has been providing year-round recreational opportunities for children and adults from all physical and cognitive circumstances.
The Arts Festival offers a mix of learning activities and other things that are just plain fun, said Monica Marietta, the executive director of SteppingStones.
“When we’re done today, we’ll take everything down, pack it all up and go to work on next year’s,” she said.
“The idea is they just have a little bit of everything.”
Make that, a lot of everything.
There were arts and crafts tables, and Native American drumming circles.
There was face-painting, sand art and the WVU Dance Team.
And a bounce house. Can’t go wrong with a bounce house, Marietta said.
Or, she said, having Mon Health System as the fair’s annual sponsor.
“They treat us really well,” she said.
“And Mylan Park is great. We’re really blessed to have this space. We used to try to hold this outdoors. Can you imagine on a day like today?”
A couple of schools from Harrison County had to cancel because of the flooding that hit the region Sunday and Monday, Marietta said.
“But we had two other schools show up who hadn’t registered,” she said, “so it worked out.”
The day was working out just fine for 10-year-old Sean Farquharson, who came to Mylan Park with his friends and classmates from East Park Elementary School, in Fairmont.
He was systemically working his way through all the activities at the arts fair.
“We hit the bounce house first,” he said, with a sage nod.
“There’s always a line for the bounce house.”
