Bill Donaldson lives in Andover and has been participating in the Old Time
Fair for many years. He and his wife, Lee will be at this year’s OLD TIME
FAIR selling his very colorful
whirligigs. It is craftspeople like Bill that make the fair interesting,
educational and fun. I recently asked Bill about his craft.

“My hobby has been a whirligig woodcrafter for the past 8 years. A whirligig
is something that spins or whirls. All my whirligigs are wind driven. I
design all my own whirligigs and spinners using images from nature, such as
the Cardinals, from older classic “gigs” like the Man Sawing Wood, or from
images I see or hear about, like windmills. I enjoy creating things that
have mechanical motion and I like to make my items large enough so they can
be seen and enjoyed while looking out the window.

Every whirligig and spinner is handcrafted to prevent rusting using
stainless steel hardware wherever possible, and I even fabricate my own
drive shafts from 12ft stainless rods. Made out of pine or recycled
hardwoods, each one is hand painted using exterior grade paints and stains
and no two are alike. Whirligigs always bring smiles.”  – Bill Donaldson

The Old Time Fair will be held on Sunday, August 4th from 9 AM – 2 PM. The
AHS would like extend a special invitation to those who are carrying on
traditional crafts. We are especially looking for potters and basket makers,
metal workers and wood turners, stone carvers and leather makers. If you, or
someone you know, have/has a craft that could be either demonstrated and/or
sold, please contact Donna at donnabh@nulltds.net or Alex at
estinal@nullproctoracademy.org. It is not too late to participate!