Story and photos by Cailin Acosta
DEL MAR, California – As my “super cool teens” enjoyed the rides at the San Diego County Fair, I stepped into the “Student Showcase” section to look for any Jewish gems, or other inspirational pieces, among the collection.
In the “tchotchkes” or “Home Arts and Hobbies – Adult Collections,” Meredith Tabor displayed little houses and buildings from around the world, and one of those displayed was Anne Frank’s home in Amsterdam, Netherlands. I have never been to Amsterdam, but when I looked at the mini house, it appeared to be a four-story house. Many of us have read The Diary of a Young Girl, in which she and her family were in hiding in the attic, which appears to be very high off the ground. Tabor won second place for her collections from Around the World.
In the Student Showcase section, Annabelle Ott from Oak Valley Middle School’s two-dimensional/mixed media piece spoke to me as I moved back and thought about her message. Ott has two people who are different colors with their arms around each other. In the middle are two hands making a heart, and, on the outsides, composing a square, are their common likes such as animals, travel, the beach, and baseball.
To me, the message showed that despite our outward appearances being different, we all have common likes and loves, and we can all get along with different people from around the world.
In the Woodworkers section, Mike Mcelhiney’s Urban Cat Stand, made of manzanita, twisted juniper, olive, and carob, I enjoyed looking at. I could imagine a happy feline enjoying this fine furniture piece. I did wonder if cats would use the wood to sharpen their claws on the stand, but maybe with the sealant, the cat would find something else, like the side of the owner’s couch.
Arthur Capozzi’s Manzanita Display Tree with Turquoise, made of reclaimed manzanita, looked to be an abstract Tree of Life. The trunk and branches are intertwined, which does not show a uniform pattern. It reminded me that many families have different ethnicities and possibly different religions. But the foundation of families goes all the way back to when G-d created humans. Many families marry and might not have offspring, showing smaller branches, and many families have many offspring, with the longer branches outstretched. Possibly the branches reaching the highest might be reaching the heavens.
In the Minerals and Gemstones section, I found some Ancient Roman Glass estimated to be over 2,000 years old that was excavated in Israel.
Of that Ancient Roman Glass, I found a display of necklaces and earrings that were made and for sale. I saw a few of the items were $300 a piece and sadly had to walk away as it was out of my price range. Someday, when I win the lottery, I will gladly purchase some nice jewelry pieces. For now, I stick with sterling silver, which has always been my favorite type of metal.
Speaking of sterling silver, I couldn’t pass up on these Chai earrings. On the card, it appears to be backwards as the “yud” is on the other side of the “chet.” But once the earrings are in, they are correct. The seller had two pairs, so I bought one for myself and one for my daughter and received a discount for buying two pairs.
After the kids enjoyed the many rides, we all bid adieu to the fair and said “until next year!”
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Cailin Acosta is the assistant editor of the San Diego Jewish World.