Ziggy Carter, who has become the quaint, if quirky symbol of a town than has sometimes been described the same way, didn’t choose to land in Rock Hall some 25 years ago. Fate chose it for him.
“I was shipwrecked,” Carter said. “I was only planning to stay for a night. I was sailing south from Maine on a 40-foot Hinckley, having come down through the canal, and I was having engine problems, and some other problems as well.”
One night turned into many as he sorted out the multiple issues. Eventually, he found work, bought a house, gave away the boat, and, most recently, has done artistic installations around town that reflect a personality both gaudy and grand.
“I never thought of myself as an artist, but the last number of years I’ve dabbled and dabbled and dabbled,” he said. “I like doing it.”
Perhaps not his masterpiece – that covers a lot of ground, including the Snoopy and Woodstock display at the American Rock Hall Garage, the construction of the first Crab Basket Christmas Tree eight years ago, the six-foot blue heron sculpture at Harbor Shack, and the whimsical storefront sign at That Place on Main – but some of Ziggy’s finer work also adorns this year’s Rock Hall FallFest promotional poster.
Carter, who will turn 78 in November, took a rough collage design and turned it into a poster centerpiece that captures the color, excitement, and, if you listen closely, the sound of the annual street fair that returns to Main Street for a 27th-annual edition on Sat. Oct. 5 from 10 am-4 pm.
“I love the event. I was good friends with Tom McHugh (co-founder of both The Mainstay and Fallfest),” Carter said. “I go every year. It’s a lotta fun, a lotta music, and a lotta oysters.”
Carter is the latest in a series of local artists to have their work represented on the FallFest poster, a tradition that began in 2021 with painter Jack Fancher, and continued in 2022 with acclaimed photographer JP Henry, and last year with an oystering image captured by the late photojournalist Heather Davidson.
A limited number of the 2024 prints, signed and numbered by the artist, will available at the FallFest merchandise tent opposite the Mainstay during the event, along with T-shirts that have the poster image on the back. All sales proceeds from the non-profit community event go to the charities that represent the twin FallFest passions of live music and fresh oysters. FallFest will again make donations to fund improvements at The Mainstay, and to support the Kent County Waterman’s Association scholarship fund.
There will be continuous live music during the event, with two alternating stages on Main Street. Highlights include Rock Hall favorites The Singing Captains; the Blake Thompson Band, led by the Kent County guitarist who has toured the world; and the Catonsville High School Steel Band, a longtime FallFest highlight.
Admission and parking are free, and many activities are geared to younger visitors at Kids Kourt. Food and drink are plentiful and, of course, approximately 6,000 oysters will be shucked and consumed on the half-shell to celebrate the October opening of the commercial harvesting season. Further information can be found at: www.rockhallfallfest.org
There’s a lot to see and do at Rock Hall FallFest on Oct. 5, and if you look closely and find a guy in a Hawaiian shirt driving a VW beetle with a large wind-up key on the roof, there’s a chance you’ll be seeing Ziggy Carter, too. Some shipwrecks last longer than others.
