CULLMAN – St. Bernard Abbey’s Br. Ambrose Steele, OSB has spent many hours lately mixing monk bread in preparation for the 31st Annual Bloomin’ Festival Arts and Crafts Fair in Cullman, Alabama on April 18-19, 2015.
Br. Ambrose expects to have 2,000 loaves ready by the weekend. In addition to monk bread, festival patrons will be welcomed by over 160 vendors offering a variety of handmade arts and crafts which include handcrafted jewelry, children’s clothing, garden art, birdhouses, recycled art, pottery, soaps, jewelry holders, fashion accessories and furniture; along with visuals including live demonstrations of broom making, glass blowing, and blacksmithing.
There's nothing better than strolling the grounds munching on fresh popped kettlecorn, roasted almonds, or funnel cakes. Prep school students and parents will be serving concessions of smoked chicken, polish sausages, hot dogs and hamburgers as well as spiral potatoes and strawberry waffles. The fresh squeezed lemonade has been taunted as the best on the planet!
Plenty of flowering plants will be available as well.
Ave Maria Grotto is simply stunning with all the beautiful flowering dogwoods and azaleas. The stone cut creations of miniature places and replicas from around the world are beautifully accented with color as the flowers are in full bloom.
Festival Director, Joyce Nix said the school has done all they can do to make the weekend a success. Nix said, “We have done everything we know to do to make this show our best yet. Weather is always key with an event like ours. Rain or shine, the show must go on.”
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Nix said corporate sponsors have been a blessing to the show and wishes to thank everyone who has assisted in promoting the show. “We appreciate the community for supporting our work at St. Bernard. With the assistance of the artist, patrons, parents, students and friends our festival has been recognized as a Top 20 Event in the Southeast by the Southeast Tourism Society.”
On Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. St. Bernard will host a 5K/10K Run on the 2015 Trail of Champions at St. Bernard! To participate visit stbernardprep.com or bloominfestival.com.
At the conclusion of the show, St. Bernard will give away a 2015 Jeep Patriot and other valuable prizes with all proceeds benefiting St. Bernard Prep School.
An admission donation of $5 is requested for entrance to the festival with plenty of free parking. Ave Maria Grotto is reducing admission to only $3 the entire weekend of the festival.
Festival T-shirts are available at bloominfestival.com. Kristin Brock of Cullman, Alabama was awarded $100 for the 2015 Bloomin’ Festival T-Shirt Design contest. The shirt sells for $15 and comes in mint green, sky blue, and violet. The artwork features all things St. Bernard to include a cross, pottery, flowers, and jewelry.
A monk shirt features St. Bernard monk, Br. Charles Manning, who teaches in the school promoting monk bread. The shirt is light gray in color and sells for $20. It depicts Br. Charles holding a loaf of bread in each hand and says: “'Knead some dough?' St. Bernard Monk Bread, Divinely Delicious!"
