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Montevallo’s 2021 Tinglewood Festival brought live chainsaw wood carving, woodworking artist vendors and a car show back to Orr Park on Saturday, Sept. 11. (Reporter Photos/Keith McCoy)

Alabama’s premier all-woodworking art festival will returns on Saturday, Sept. 9 (File)

By EMILY SPARACINO | Staff Writer

MONTEVALLO – Nearly 5,000 people flocked to Montevallo’s Orr Park on Saturday, Sept. 11 for the long-awaited return of the city’s all-woodworking art festival.

After the COVID-19 pandemic prompted organizers to cancel last year’s Tinglewood Festival, residents were ready for the 2021 edition of the outdoor event, which carries the tagline “Shavings, Smoke and Sound.”

“We could not have asked for better weather,” Tinglewood Festival Committee Chairwoman Adele Nelson said. “The day was perfect from start to end. We have had so many positive responses and folks who are already looking forward to Sept. 10, 2022.”

As in previous years, the festival featured a live chainsaw carving expo, woodworking artist vendors, children’s activities, live music, a car show and a wooden boat race.

Chainsaw carvers included Heather Bailey, Corey Lancaster, Justin Driver, Dave Marshalek and Lucas Pennington.

Vendors lined the sidewalks throughout the park, offering everything from handcrafted wooden birdhouses to cutting boards to necklaces to door hangers to chairs, and many more items.

The vendor area also included information booths, sponsor booths and demo booths.

The Support Committee of the Alabama National Cemetery also participated in the festival, which took place on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Singing group Homeland performed a patriotic musical tribute, and the SCALNC’s display included a new banner in memory of the seven KIA service members who are interred at the cemetery.

SCALNC members Eldon and Bonnie Woodie, Bob and Nancy Barefield, Pam Nichols and Linda Keller spoke with hundreds of people who stopped by to learn about the SCALNC and the cemetery.

A large part of the festival each year is Cars by the Creek, a classic car show featuring more than 100 classic vehicles.

The festival has always had Best in Show awards, but the Tinglewood Committee decided to add Best in Class wooden ribbon awards this year, resulting in the following winners: Wood Crafts – Chiefs Woodcrafts, Whittling – Tim Tingle, Wood Turning – Ben Smith, Gourds – Nanny’s Nonsense, Furniture Making – Johnny’s Tables and More, Wood Carving – Jake Jones Artistic Creations, Multi-Medis – Atkins Forged Knives, and the top prize, Best in Show – Kenneth Howton Birdhouses.

Tim Tingle’s Whittling Contest resulted in three winners with a wooden ribbon for first, second and third.

Following Homeland’s tribute, live music continued on the main stage with Terry Padgett’s Elvis tribute, J.W. Teller with American Folk, Sure Bet with R&B and headliner Swanglish with some jazz, gospel and funk.

Activities in the children’s area included a make-and-take art project by The Art Studio, balloon creations by the Balloon Guy and two Birds of Prey shows by the Alabama Wildlife Center.

The signature Tinglewood Festival Wooden Boat Race featured fleets of boats with 25 boats of the same color in each fleet representing different organizations and nonprofits in Montevallo.

This year’s boat race winners were Montevallo Main Street Players, first place; Shelby Emergency Assistance, second place; Montevallo Arts Collaborative, third place; Montevallo Chamber of Commerce, fourth place; and Montevallo Main Street, fifth place.

A wide variety of food vendors made sure festivalgoers didn’t go hungry, serving up tacos, burgers, hotdogs, chicken, salads, seafood, Cajun, barbecue, popsicles, funnel cakes, ice cream, shaved ice and lemonade, to name a few.

The Montevallo Chamber of Commerce, Montevallo Arts Collaborative and Montevallo Main Street hosted the festival with assistance from Montevallo Main Street Players and the Shelby County Arts Council.

“The committee would like to thank the 40-plus sponsors for all their support because without them the festival would have not been possible,” Nelson said. “And a huge shout-out to all the volunteers. That was one thing we have plenty of this year.”

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