{"id":248,"date":"2013-08-07T12:54:08","date_gmt":"2013-08-07T16:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oldenwilde.org\/blog\/?p=248"},"modified":"2013-08-10T23:18:20","modified_gmt":"2013-08-11T03:18:20","slug":"bele-chere-2013-going-out-with-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oldenwilde.org\/blog\/248\/community-service\/bele-chere-2013-going-out-with-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Bele Chere 2013: Going Out With Style"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Coven

Coven Oldenwilde’s volunteer band of wristbanders.<\/p><\/div>\n

For the third year in a row, Coven Oldenwilde manned a \u201cbeer bracelet\u201d booth during Asheville\u2019s annual street fair held on the last weekend in July. <\/p>\n

\"Booth<\/a>

Booth table on Friday, July 26, 2013. (Click photo to view fullsize in new window.)<\/p><\/div>\n

This year was heartrending since weeks before, City Council voted to discontinue the event after this, its last hurrah. Public input was not solicited prior to the surprise move. <\/p>\n

We were stunned that our city renowned for cultivating tourism would dispense with the well-known event it had publicized nationally for decades. Further, forty local non-profits have benefitted from receiving a percentage of the proceeds they raise on behalf of the city by working the event. Worse still, we soon learned that two other festivals — LAFF and Goombay — are also cancelled this year. <\/p>\n

\"Ribbons,

Ribbons, divination kits, cards, signs ….<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Decorated

Samhain 2012’s handfasting ribbons became Bele Chere 2013’s magical bookmarks!<\/p><\/div>\n

Nonetheless, Coven Oldenwilde decided to go out with a bang. In addition to selling alcohol bracelets, we planned to elicit donations in exchange for handmade, organic divination kits, copies of The Goodly Spellbook, Coven T-shirts, and embossed Handfasting ribbons from Samhain 18 re-purposed as magical bookmarks. <\/p>\n

\"Cauldron

Our “tips cauldron” with a bell hung on its bail and a lid in case of rain.<\/p><\/div>\n

While prep was duly extensive, it was well worth the effort because we made mad \u201ctips\u201d this year — often a fiver or sawbuck put in our cauldron in appreciation of our being public Witches! <\/p>\n

\"Booth

Booth table on Saturday.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"View

Coven Oldenwilde’s booth open for business.<\/p><\/div>\n

As always, we received a kind reception from fellow citizens who sought out our booth and thanked us for saving local old magnolia trees from a developer\u2019s ax; entertaining them with our annual public Samhain rituals; and for our various spiritual activism exploits. <\/p>\n

Among the many vignettes we\u2019ll never forget: <\/p>\n