By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
The 49th Annual Cedar Key Seafood Festival drew a big crowd on the opening day Saturday with tens of thousands of visitors crowding the midway for shrimp, grouper, clams and oysters.
A bright blue cloudless sky, ample sunshine and warm weather appeared to increase appetites. The second and final day of the festival is Sunday.
Among the vendors was Al Hardee of Chiefland, the third generation of wood craftsmen from Chiefland to build round tables with Lazy Susan rotating centers.
Hardee, owner of Hardee Wood Works, learned how build Lazy Susan round tables from his mentor, Billie Ray Sharp.
According to Hardee, the tradition was started when the late M.D. Andrews asked Chiefland’s Leo Tremblay to travel to Day, Florida to get the pattern for building beautiful Lazy Susan tables. Tremblay built the tables for years and passed his knowledge onto Sharp.
Sharp has passed his knowledge to Hardee, whose regular job is working at the Levy County Tax Collector’s office.
Hardee has made four Lazy Susan tables. The one on display at the festival had an oak top with a cherry wood Lazy Susan 30 inches in diameter. Sharp’s 48th and 49th Lazy Susan’s were on display at the festival as well.
It takes considerable skill to build a Lazy Susan table to the standards of Sharp and Hardee. Sharp said he can build one in two weeks if he does nothing else for eight hours a day. Hardee said it takes him a little longer.
But the results speak for themselves. The tables are a form of art
Cedar Key Seafood Festival October 20, 2018
Posted October 20, 2018
