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Old-fashioned fun on picture-perfect day
Cobb Island offers plenty to do at festival
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos
by EMILY BARNES
Anthony Becker, 10, watches as Noah White, 9, puts his arms and head in a photo stand during Cobb Island Day Saturday.
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Sharon Roberts sat under a shade tree spinning yarn while her supply of the material placidly stood by visiting with a group of children during Cobb Island Day held Saturday afternoon.
Roberts, owner of Camillo Valley Alpacas in King George, Va., said she attends the event every year to see some old friends and market her enterprise, and she brought some of the South American animals with her for the event.
"I lived on the island for 26 and a half years," she said while deftly spinning some gray yarn on her wooden spinning wheel. "My parents grew up here. This is my home. Cobb Island Day is great. I get to see old friends."
Roberts joined more than a dozen other vendors to participate in the annual event which kicked off with a flag-raising ceremony, parade, a rededication of the island's memorial brick walk and performances by students of Julie Rayle's Dance Studio.
The festival also featured pie-eating and water balloon contests, sack and crab races, face painting, nautical and rescue knot-tying demonstrations and the Nanjemoy Environmental Education Center's Birds of Prey presentation.
The Charles County Sheriff's Office police dog unit and the Charles County Amateur Radio broadcasters also presented demonstrations throughout the afternoon.
Several food vendors were on hand to serve up pulled beef, pork and steak sandwiches, snow cones, cotton candy and a variety of other goodies.
A popular offering at the event for kids and adults was continuous Cobb Island Volunteer Fire Department rides around the island.
The event is the island's traditional kickoff to summer, said Charlotte Sampson, president of the Cobb Island Citizens Association which is the main sponsor of the festival.
Bob and Sue Pike perused the vendor stands while enjoying the balmy weather.
"Cobb Island is the best-kept secret in the world," Bob Pike said. "It's a nice place to live."
Banks O'Dee resident John Gardner was on hand to do nautical knot-tying demonstrations.
"This event is wonderful," he said. "It gets better every year."
Paul Springer sat nearby patiently crafting crab pots.
"This is a dying art," he said. "It's like the watermen — a dying breed."
Sarah LaRoque enjoyed the festival with her two dogs, Buck and Lexus.
"I just live down the street," she said. "The event is fun for everybody to come to and just hang out."
Port Tobacco artisan Joyce Stash displayed unique nautical baskets dressed up with fishermen, sailboats and other maritime items.
"I've been doing a lot of shows and I decided I wanted to do a local show," she said. "This is great. It's nice to be out among all of these people. It's a really nice affair."
Lori Pompizzi, who lives on Cobb Island, said the festival is a great way to meet other residents of the small community.
"It's a wonderful tradition," she said. "I see everybody I know. It has a little hometown atmosphere."
Eric Reesee of Swan Point drew a small crowd because of his two huge American Indian dogs, Durango and Dakota. Reesee is the owner of Champion Pet Sitters in Swan Point.
"We like to bring the dogs out and socialize them a little bit," he said, adding that the dogs – who weigh 91 and 140 pounds, respectively – are very shy and wary around strangers. "Every time we go to PetSmart we have to wait to shop. The dogs always attract a lot of attention."
La Plata resident Derrick DeHessa said attending the annual Cobb Island Day event is like attending a big family reunion.
"I see a lot of people who I grew up with down here," he said. "It's nice to reunite with old friends. It's cool."
"I've never been to Cobb Island before," Maura Morrison said. "You can't get crab cakes like you can get on the island anywhere else."
Dolores Smith of the Cobb Island Citizens Association attended a table filled with homemade baked goodies, like brownies, chocolate chip cookies and cupcakes.
"This is real nice," she said. "It's a good community affair and it draws more and more people all of the time."
