Warren Scott

TORONTO — The many who turned out for the Toronto Art Festival this weekend found a wide assortment of hand-made and decorative items, an assortment of music and food and an opportunity to help several local causes.

It was the 47th year for the two-day event, which took place on the Gazebo Commons and adjacent streets and included the addition of a classic car show Saturday on North Fourth Street.

The streets were filled with vendors selling items including decorative signs for yards and indoors, crocheted hats and other clothing, necklaces, bracelets and other jewelry; and jams, jellies and baked goods.

Focus in Toronto, the group behind the annual festival, held drawings each hour for prizes produced by many of the vendors as well as a two-night stay at the Dutch Host Inn in Amish country.

Children could occupy themselves at booths where they could produce sand art, filling small containers with multi-hued grains, or have their faces painted.

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING — The Bucket List Band performed a mix of country and classic rock and roll for the many who turned out Sunday for the Toronto Art Festival. In its 47th year, the two-day festival included vendors selling a wide variety of hand-made and decorative items, an assortment of food, live music and a classic car show. -- Warren Scott

And those looking to release some frustration or expend excess energy could use a hammer to take a whack at an already damaged automobile supplied by Will’s Scrap and More, a local collector of discarded appliances.

Musical entertainment ranged from country and classic rock and roll to heavy metal and jazz and swing.

The festival opened on Saturday morning with a welcome from Mayor John Parker and a performance by the Toronto High School marching band.

The Toronto Band Parents were among many not-for-profit groups that sold food or other items during the festival to raise funds for their efforts.

For many years the event has coincided with the Toronto Lions Club’s chicken dinner sale, with the group selling as many of 250 of the meals to support vision screenings for local students and other community projects.

Members of Riverview Global Methodist Church served up hot sandwiches, baked goods and other food within its air-conditioned basement, while members of nearby Crossroads North River Church sold cabbage rolls.

Also on hand were members of the Toronto Beautification Committee, which accepted orders for its ongoing mum sale.

The cost is $8 each for an 8-and-a-half-inch potted fall mum — available in red, orange, yellow, white and purple. Orders can be placed by calling (740) 457-8064 through forms found at Tri B’s Coffee Shop, Kitch’s Kitchen, the Toronto Apothecary and Toronto Post Office and Subway.

The deadline is Monday for the flowers, which may be picked up on Sept. 20.

Proceeds from the sale will go to the group’s efforts to plant flowers and decorate the Gazebo Commons and several other public areas of the city.

Jessica Winters, one of the volunteer group’s members, noted they include areas at the city’s north and south entrances.

“I think it really matters. When you pull down (the entrance ramps from state Route 7) and see all of those flowers — I think it presents our town well,” she said.

Winters said many of the club’s members are getting older and welcome more help in their beautification efforts.

With help from city crews, the group also maintains the U.S. flags that hang from light posts and other places in the city. Donations for that effort may be made to “TBC” and mailed to Mary Beth Robertson at 905 North Third St.

Members of the Toronto Fire Department were promoting their first fall bash. Set for Oct. 25 at the department’s Knoxville station, it will include drawings for assorted firearms, a Chinese auction with many prizes and a 50-50 drawing, said local firefighter Anthony Middleton.

Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased from any volunteer firefighter or at several local businesses, including Tri B’s Coffee Shop, Tucker’s Tavern and Squid’s Brewery.

Skyler Buckel, a freshman at Edison High School, stood out in his newsboy’s cap, wire-rimmed glasses, bowtie and vest while he played a 1903 Edison Standard Phonograph, one of many antiques he has restored.

Buckel said after acquiring the antique for $500 through eBay, he added a new spring and gears so it could play the musical cylinders he had purchased previously.

He explained such parts can be obtained through an Internet-based business, and it’s not the first antique he has repaired.

Around the age of 12, he decided to compensate for his sloppy handwriting by typing his school reports on a vintage, manual typewriter.

Since then, he’s restored other phonographs, including one found in his grandparents’ attic, assorted clocks and other “old school” devices.

Buckel said his love of old things has led him to repair antiques for many people, often charging only for the parts, depending on the size of the job.

He’s been known to ride a penny farthing, an early bicycle distinctive for its very large front wheel and very small rear wheel.

But he has turned to modern technology to spread the word about his services, posting photos and videos on Facebook, YouTube and TikTok while often using the name, “Sir Topperhat.”