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Festival Celebrating Caladiums Starts Today

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

From left: Terri Cantwell takes a caladium count while Sheri Bates sets up caladiums Thursday in the Caladium Arts and Crafts Co-Op in downtown Lake Placid. The growers' booth is indoors this year, which it displays all of the varieties of caladiums grown in the Heartland.

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By BILL RETTEW JR.

Highlands Today

Published: August 22, 2008

LAKE PLACID - Caladiums will reign supreme this weekend as thousands of visitors gather for the 18th annual Caladium Festival, which starts today and runs through Sunday.

Eileen May, Greater Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce CEO/president of operations, said organizers were putting the "final touches" on the event.

Fourteen local family-run businesses are said to produce more than 90 percent of the world's caladium bulbs. Most farms are south of Lake Istokpoga. The state's sixth largest lake produces a black muck like none other that farmers say is perfect for caladium production.

Strong seasonal summer rains are making this one of the best years for the crop in decades. The fields to the west of town, on County Road 621, are filled with bold splashes of vibrant colors and set in perfect rows like a hand-knitted afghan.

Darlene Phypers, of Happiness Farms, said on Thursday that this year's crop looks good.

"The color is just gorgeous," said Phypers. "It's beautiful. It's been a good year, with plenty of rain, but not too much."

Bus tours will take visitors through the heart of hundreds of acres of caladium fields and stop at a farm for owners and guides to show off caladium-specific farming equipment. Tours run every hour, or hour and 15 minutes, and start at the Woman's Club at 10 N. Main Ave.

Live entertainment will be there all weekend long along with artisans manning more than 100 booths. As always, several varieties of caladium tubers, as well as potted plants, will be on sale.

Monica Goodwin Turner was this year's contest winner and designed the festival's T-shirt and poster. Her rendering was inspired by her postman father. This is Goodwin Turner's fourth winning entry.

The Caladium Car Show will attract about 100 vintage, show and antique cars to DeVane Park on Saturday. Many custom paint jobs of these classic show cars will rival the eye-catching color of the caladiums.

The Dr. Tom McDonald 5K race commences on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. at Lake Placid Christian School, at Interlake Boulevard and Pine Street. It will benefit the Lake Placid Habitat for Humanity.

Colored booklets available at many downtown locations describe the history behind each of the town's more than 40 murals. A map helps visitors take a self-guided mural tour, while the Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce, on Oak Avenue, features each of the original mural paintings, on a much smaller scale.

Bill Rettew Jr. may be contacted at 386-5857 or wrettew@highlandstoday.com

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