By By MIKE VOSS
Contributing Editor
The 15th-annual East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival and North Carolina Decoy Carving Championships kicks off Friday and continues through Sunday.
The festival begins Friday with a preview reception, with the East Carolina Wildfowl Guild and The East Carolina Bank serving as co-hosts. The reception is for festival sponsors and invited guests. The festival opens to the public at 9 a.m. Saturday, closing at 5 p.m. The festival opens at 9 a.m. Sunday, concluding at 4 p.m.
Selected entries from the 2010 North Carolina Waterfowl Conservation Stamp competition will be displayed at the preview reception. At that reception, the top five entries will be unveiled by the Wildlife Resources Commission. The top entries will remain on display throughout the festival weekend.
The festival’s inaugural DockDogs competition also gets under way Friday morning at Kugler Field, which is at the corner of East Fourth and Hudnell streets.
“I’m resting up for the next four days,” said Neil Woolard, chairman of the local DockDogs competition, on Wednesday.
The DockDogs crew was expected to arrive in Washington on Wednesday. The crew will work with Woolard to set up the DockDogs equipment and run the competitions.
“It’s going great so far. We are looking forward to a big show. Rain or snow, we are going forward with the show,” Woolard said.
“Tons of interest,” Woolard replied when asked about local inquiries about the event.
“After people see it this year, I think it will really grow in the next two or three years,” Woolard said.
Woolard said he’s not worried about inclement weather this weekend.
“Umbrellas are welcome. Skin is waterproof,” he said.
“The dogs are going to do the best they can, rain or shine,” Woolard noted.
A decoy-painting workshop for children, which is free but requires preregistration, will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the North Carolina Estuarium. Openings remain for the 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. class. To participate, children must at least 4 years old and no older than 12. Participants will paint miniature bufflehead decoys. To register, call 252-948-0000.
From today through Saturday, the Estuarium presents the Chuck May decoy memorabilia display, a collection of items by renowned waterfowl Carver Chuck May. The collection was donated to the Estuarium.
Although the festival’s core is at the Washington Civic Center, many events and activities take place in areas such as Stewart Parkway along the Pamlico River. The carving competitions will take place at the Red Men’s Lodge on East Third Street.
The festival’s main exhibits, its vendors and The East Carolina Bank Sportsmen Center are located at the Civic Center. As in previous years, Washington Pediatrics is sponsoring the Kids’ Zone at this year’s festival. Kids’ Zone, which will be located by the Washington Civic Center, will feature children’s activities that include live shows and games.
For the first time in the festival’s history, the Southern Classic Duck, Goose and Swan Calling Championships will be conducted during a two-day period. In previous years, the calling contests were conducted on one day during the festival.
The Southern Classic includes the North Carolina duck-calling championship, the winner of which will represent North Carolina at the World Championship Duck Calling Contest in Stuttgart, Ark., during Thanksgiving weekend this year.
The calling competitions include the Pamlico Regional Duck Calling Competition. That competition, formerly known as the Swamp Fox Regional Duck Calling Competition, made its first appearance at the festival three years ago. It used to be held in South Carolina. The event’s name was changed because of it being conducted in the Pamlico River watershed.
The winner of the regional event qualifies to compete in the World Championship Duck Calling Contest.
The North Carolina goose-calling and the world swan-calling competitions also are part of the festival lineup, as will be the Southern Classic Open Goose Calling Competition.
Also part of the lineup are junior-level competitions in the state duck-, state goose- and world swan-calling contests.
The Pamlico Regional Duck Calling Competition, Southern Classic Goose Calling Competition and the World Swan Calling Championship will be held Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. at the western end of Stewart Parkway. The other competitions will be held Sunday, beginning at noon.
Concessions will be provided throughout the weekend by the Christian Men’s Fellowship from First Christian Church in Washington. The men will provide a variety of foods, including their signature clam chowder, fresh-cut fries and cheeseburgers.
Shuttle buses will run between the Civic Center, Red Men’s Lodge and Kugler Field on Saturday and Sunday. Admission to the festival is $10 per person for a three-day pass.
DockDogs schedule
Friday
9 a.m. — Registration/practice opens
10 a.m. — Speed retrieve competition 1
11:30 a.m. — Big Air Wave competition 1
1 p.m. — Big Air Wave competition 2
2:30 p.m. — Big Air Wave competition 3
4 p.m. — Big Air Wave competition 4
Saturday
8 a.m. — Registration/practice opens
9 a.m. — Speed retrieve competition 2
10:30 a.m. — Big Air Wave competition 5
12:30 p.m. — Big Air Wave competition 6
2:30 p.m. — Big Air Wave competition 7
5 p.m. — Extreme vertical competition
Sunday
8 a.m. — Registration/practice opens
9 a.m. — Big Air Wave competition 8
11 a.m. — Big Air Wave competition 9
1 p.m. — Speed retrieve competition 3
2:30 p.m. — Speed retrieve finals
3 p.m. — Big Air finals (pro, semi-pro and amateur)
DockDogs competitions will be conducted at Kugler Field, at the intersection of East Fourth and Hudnell streets.
Shuttle buses will transport people to and from Kugler Field from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Shuttle buses may be boarded at the Red Men’s Lodge, site of the carving contests, on East Third Street and at the southern end of the Civic Center on Gladden Street. The shuttle-bus stops will be marked.