THOMASVILLE — As the 60th Thomasville Rose Festival wound down Saturday, people from all walks of life strolled leisurely among activities downtown and in nearby Paradise Park.

Families and pooches were particularly evident in the crowds of people casually enjoying a day of activities in a charming Southern city.

Mary Ann and David McLeod entered the park late Saturday morning with Bubba, a seven-week-old Chihuahua, and a Boston terrier.

Ella Millere and Bella Pozo, both 5, had almost identical beagles on leashes. Pozo expected to see “lots of dogs” in the park. She was not disappointed.

Hannah Lindquist, 11, was accompanied by Lady Piper, a nine-month-old Weimaraner, and her brother, Philip Lindquist, 9.

Hannah could not stay long. She was to appear in “Oliver!” at Thomasville Cultural Center in a couple of hours.

The children, accompanied by their mother, Heather Lindquist, were in the park to attend the Miss Patty Cake concert.

Zachary Bennett, 8, had his photo made with a big, red rooster. He thought it would be fun. The place was Poultry Palace. The photographer was Tabatha Puiszis.

Puiszis, an Albany resident, explained that her booth was designed to educate people about fowl. She sells chicken puppets to support the pet roosters in the project.

“The puppets I don’t make. I decorate them. They started out as birds. I make them into chickens,” Puiszis explained.

Jenna Dowdy, 11 1/2 months old, daughter of Craig and Jennifer Dowdy, was a ringside observer — from her stroller — at Bark In The Park canine competition.

Close by were Missy Taylor and Benji, a poodle adopted at the Thomasville-Thomas County Humane society animal shelter.

Other poodles at the dog event were Bridget and Daisy, four months. The puppies and their keepers, sisters Mary Katherine and Natalie Moreton, were waiting to enter competition.

Another show observer was Alex, a handsome Yorkshire terrier in his eighth year. The canine, sporting rebel-flag neckwear, was with owners Beverly and Gaynor Hart.

Shirley Tate’s booth was alive with colorful bows.

“Bow-making has become an art,” the Leary resident explained. She made many hairbows for her daughters and now makes them for her granddaughters.

Origami, Tate said, is the art of taking a small bow designed for a baby and adding layers to accommodate a growing girl.

Amid the many arts and crafts examples in the park were ornamental flamingoes made from tires and painted pink. The standing creatures had wood heads.

Miri Brengosz, 6, tackled a hot dog after the Miss Patty Cake concert. Later, she would indulge in a strawberry snowcone.

Miri participated in the Rose City Run Saturday morning. “She said she felt like she came in first,” said the child’s mother, Cindy Brengosz.

Bobby Wilkes was frantically busy frying thin, curly strips of white and sweet potatoes. His food booth, Wilkes Concession, a family operation, has made the Rose Festival scene for seven or eight years.

“Y’all have a good show here. It’s not just the show. It’s the people,” Wilkes explained.

A construction worker during the week, Wilkes, a Moultrie resident, takes the food concession on the road weekends. It is his hobby.

Another event in Paradise Park was the Civic Garden Show, where Gladys Leaks won the top award for the best rose.

Downtown Saturday afternoon, the area around Thomas County Courthouse was alive with vintage automobiles and trucks in Thomasville Police Department’s annual car and truck show.

A red-red 1957 two-door hardtop Chevrolet Bel Air screamed nostalgia. Likewise for a nearby mustard-yellow two-door Chevrolet from the mid-1950s.

Bruno Schmidt’s modified replica of a 1934 Mercedes was a stand-out car.

The trunk is small, so Schmidt installed a 1930 add-on trunk suitable for tail-gating. The trunk was outfitted Saturday with wine, cheese, flowers, petits fours, and, of course, Grey Poupon mustard, just in case.

“When I got it, it was in pieces and parts. ... It had no engine,” Schmidt, a Tampa, Fla. resident, explained.

Taking a year to restore, the vehicle has a 400-horsepower 383 Stroker engine.

The luxurious red convertible does not sit idle. Schmidt and Rosie Madison travel nationwide in the vehicle.

Cheryl Hunzicker’s pride in her 1968 Chevrolet Corvette is catching. The brilliantly red car has racked up only 35,000 miles in four decades. Hunzicker, a Cairo resident, is the vehicle’s second owner.

The snazzy ‘Vette has the original paint. The tires are new.

“I’ve got a red hardtop that goes on it,” Hunzicker said.



Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 220.