ASHLAND, Ala. – Perfect timing! Watermelons reach their flavor peak when the calendar turns to August. That means it’s time for the largest watermelon-themed festival of the year, which attracts the 2021 “Favorite Booth” winner, Carl “Fruit Carver” Jones, back to central Alabama.
Jones literally grew up in the food industry. It can be a stressful environment, that starts anew every single day.
“Gardening and carving melons became my ‘escape’ over the past 20 years,” said Jones. “It’s peaceful and helps me relieve health risks like stress and high blood pressure. It’s fun, too, and allows me to travel, meet new people, and appreciate life more.”
Jones says he averages 15 to 20 events a year.
“I had a great visit to the Boston area earlier this year to be an exhibitor at a boutique hotel in Martha’s Vineyard. I got to take in a lot of historic New England sights while appearing in multiple events.”
He has been invited to all sorts of corporate events – from grocery store openings to big trade shows and conventions.
“One of the trends that’s growing are company team-building and other training events,” explained Carl, “[I’ve] even had the chance to teach some basics to those in attendance. Some caught on pretty quickly, while others were more into watching.”
We met up for an interview over dinner at a busy Talladega restaurant, and Carl brought along a small watermelon. As his carving art progressed, more and more restaurant patrons stopped, stared, and commented, “Wow!” as they pulled out their phones for photos.
When the restaurant owner came to see what was up, his eyes got as big as silver dollars, “You are a serious artist! That’s impressive!”
Carl will head out to California soon for several big appearances, but I believe we’ve convinced him to come back to central Alabama next April to visit Sylacauga’s annual ‘Magic of Marble’ Festival, and he says he might even try his hand at carving marble in the future, too.
In the meantime, he’ll be easy to spot during the Clay County Yellow-Meated Watermelon Festival this evening and again during the day on Saturday, Aug. 1-2. Among the hundreds of booths in the shady wooded Ashland park, he’s likely to have one of the biggest crowds of onlookers, most taking cell phone pics.
“It’s fun watching people watch me work,” said Jones. “I need to set up my Go-Pro and videotape them, instead of me!”
