A squawking good time had in Fitzgerald

Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, March 22, 2017

FITZGERALD — Downtown Fitzgerald was filled with families carrying turkey legs, robotic barking puppies and colorful balloons Saturday.

This year the Wild Chicken Festival spread farther down Central and Pine Street than years before thanks to new vendors selling Alpaca pelts, loofa seeds, and handmade jewelry. Although, regular attendants of the festival noticed familiar faces, most notably the Poultry Palace Family who bring their exotic piano playing chickens every year in what they call a “traveling trained chicken eggzibit.”

Behind the Carnegie Center the Fitzgerald-Ben Hill Arts Council hosted the Artisan Market and held an award ceremony for competing artwork.

The winning pieces included carefully carved gourds, photos of natural landscapes and intricately painted canvases.

Peggy Forest has been setting up here own booth along with many other members of the Douglas Arts Guild since the market has been open.

Forest says she loves coming to the festival and other events that the arts council participates in.

“We have a few young’uns that come back because they know I like to do the rock stars,” Forest said with a laugh. A few feet away sat a portrait of Steven Tyler clutching a microphone at her booth. Other artists brought ceramic works, carved jewelry and hand mixed oils.

Near the market sat a tiny home.

The smell of coffee wafted out the front door of the miniature house on wheels. Inside was Chris Calhoun who built the home for fun. Calhoun was selling coffee to help finance mission trips to El Salvador which happen every year.

When Calhoun first saw the tiny homes becoming popular, he wanted to try and make one for himself. Being a builder by trade made the tiny home a unique challenge.

Calhoun explained with a chuckle, “I get bored.”

He’s hoping to sell the home so he can build more.

Exiting the market and reentering the festival meant crossing paths with the sweet smell of fresh baked pizza from Cirillo’s Pizzeria.

Many businesses downtown stayed open to welcome the Wild Chicken fans.

The Wild Chicken Festival is an annual celebration that has embraced Fitzgerald’s most unique feature.

The vibrant Burmese chickens settled in Fitzgerald after being released near the Ocmulgee River in the 1960s.

They migrated to downtown Fitzgerald, finding it a place to call home.