Document text
Pear button pushes patriotism Medford resident Jay Meritt designed this button for the annual Pear Blossom Festival. Medford commemorative maker brings message to festival pin: 'What a country!' By PAUL FATTIG For the first time in its nearly 50-year history, the annual Pear Blossom Festival will feature a locally made festival button. Created by Medford resident Jay Meritt, the 3-inch-diameter button is rich with patriotic pride. The American flag waves across the top while a yellow wheat field spreads out below in front of a red barn and green trees. A horse-drawn hay wagon is being pulled past wheat shucks. There are also a train, factories and ships in a harbor. "What a Country! Pear Blossom Festival 2002," it reads, reflecting the theme of the April 13 festival. The buttons, sponsored by the Rogue Valley Manor, will be given to festival participants, who normally number around 5,000 people. The buttons also will be available for $1 each during the street fair in Medford's Alba Park. Until now, the button was traditionally yellow with a Pear Blossom logo, said Darcey Mann-Self, Pear Blossom Festival Association president. "With all the events that have been happening this past year, after we heard about Jay and his button making, we decided to have something that tells about our country," she said. "The button really does that. It's very attractive." "It really portrays what our country is all about," added board member Helen Moore. "It's very professional." A collector of historic buttons - he calls them pins - Meritt, 48, began making pins for political campaigns and special occasions about three years ago as a hobby. He is a member of the American Political Items Collectors, a national organization. Meritt, who works as an elementary school band teacher in the Rogue Valley, already has made pins for each of the half-dozen candidates running for Oregon governor. "When someone famous dies, I produce a memorial pin," he said. "Right now I have Billy Wilder, Milton Berle and Dudley Moore." Some of his pins, which he offers on eBay, include political commentary, such as the one he made immediately following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. "I did Osama bin Laden in a target and Uncle Sam punching bin Laden in the mouth," he said, adding, "Part of what I'm trying to do is bring back a little bit of art, to revive a dying art." The pin selected by the festival association is similar to those made in the "Golden Age" around 1900, he said. "I tried to capture some nostalgia and a broad perspective of the entire country," he said. "We have a microcosm of the country here in the Rogue Valley." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.