[July 05, 2011] From the shores of Lake Erie ..BEACH GLASS Tweet ASHTABULA, Jun 26, 2011 (Star Beacon - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Jackie Eaton, of Conneaut, wears her love of beach glass proudly on the back of her shirt. She was in good company Saturday as hundreds of people, from all over Ohio and surrounding states, crowded Bridge Street to experience the Beach Glass Festival. "Caution. I stop frequently for Beach Glass," the T-shirt advertised as she toured vendor booths in Ashtabula Harbor. "It's just relaxing. It's good therapy to get down to the beach," she said of her interest in finding unique, honed glass on area beaches. Eaton said red beach glass is the hardest to come by, but yellow and purple are hard to find as well. "Whites, browns and greens are your more common colors," she said. Some of the beach glass colors are even dependent on what may have been dumped in the lake. Eaton said General Electric used to dump glass as fill and it eventually is carved by the water, sand and wind and re-deposited on the Lake Erie shoreline. "Sometimes you'll find pottery (from ship wrecks)," Eaton said. Lorie and Troy Dalrymple, owners of Beach Glass Jewelry Studio and Gallery, organized the third edition of the Beach Glass Festival. "Last year we had 64 vendors (counting Bridge Street merchants). This year we have 92," Troy said while taking a break from waiting on customers at their permanent store on Bridge Street. He said the visitors are coming from all over. "We were taking phone calls from Buffalo," Troy said. Lorie said she wasn't too concerned about the weather. "This group of people (beach glass enthusiasts) are a dedicated bunch. They come rain or shine," she said. A former Ashtabula resident, Stacy Theiss Rocco, runs a boutique from her home in Bay Village, but was excited to return to her roots. "It's been good. We've done really well," she said. The Dalrymples started their business at a market while living in Columbus and it took off from there. "Ashtabula Harbor is the perfect backdrop for what we do," Troy said. "It's just a great place." "Beach glass is a unique glass that has been tumbled and polished by the natural forces of the waves," states a sign located in the Dalrymple's store. Mary Farr, of Warren, was not disappointed with the cool weather. "I kind of like it (the weather). Last year was kind of hot," she said. Brenna DiCross, of Salem, said she and her family made the trip north to check out the event and spend the weekend camping and fishing. Vendors take up the parking lanes of Bridge Street marked by orange cones as motorists make their way east and west. A variety of food options also are available as the event continues today at 10 a.m. To see more of the Star Beacon or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.starbeacon.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, Star Beacon, Ashtabula, Ohio Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]