Orange Beach Festival of Art a huge success!

The weather cooperated and was a delightful 70 degrees and sunny. The crowd exceeded
10,000. Orange Beach artists were almost double the number from last year and
the quality of all were exceptional. Put this 2nd Weekend of March annual Orange Beach, Alabama, festival on your list of things to do next year. It gets better and better each year. One of the food vendors even had alligator bites on its menu.

I enjoyed meeting so many people this year in the authors' tent. Festivals like
the Orange Beach Festival of Art can exist because the majority of American people
are honorable, civilized, gracious people. It takes many volunteers working together with sponsors, hard working artists, authors and food vendors in addition to city officials and police officers to put this magnificent festival together. Peaceful, family friendly crowds mingling together in public is something we take for granted because it happens so often and is standard fare for life in
America. No need for a "fan code of ethics" or a "family friendly" section.
Respect and good manners make it fun and safe for all.

The older the crowds, the more gracious they are. This is because they were taught
at an early age how important it is to be respectful to self and others. These
traits form the backbone of our country.

"A Year of Good Manners" by Margery Sinclair and Jan Polk was very well received.
Many people commented that "they don't teach this any more." Many mentioned "This is great information, they should teach this in the schools! Several people bought multiple copies. Many mentioned young people need to know this. Two people (middle aged women!) said, "We don't care anymore." and laughed as they walked out. I suggested if they read our book they might change their minds. (Each of the 365 tips in our book has a reason/advantage to use it.)

The truth is teaching respect and manners is the responsibility of parents and should be valued and taught again in all our homes so we can free the teachers to do the work teachers need to do and not try to teach information that should be taught by the parents. Teachers are educators....not babysitters and parents.

I give away free book marks to anyone who would like one. They are special....
they won't fall out of the book and everyone takes one. I heard several time,
"You should patent this." My book marks have sayings on them either from our book or something that pertains to being an honorable, civilized, law abiding citizen. I gave one distinguished gentleman a book mark and he read it out loud to the whole tent. "An honorable person will not lie, cheat or steal even when the opportunity presents itself." www.janpolk.com.....www.ayearofgoodmanners.com Then he said to me,
"I don't like this one; give me a different one."

So I gave him this one:
"Behave decently to others, show consideration when there is conflict, and
maintain composure when displeased. Knowing etiquette makes you feel relaxed
and confident." Margery Sinclair.com.....www.ayearofgoodmanners.com
He kept it.