Manatee's Beach Market at Coquina has it all - toe rings to frumples

COQUINA BEACH -- Beth Bruno, a tourist from Trenton, N.J, learned at the The Beach Market at Coquina Beach on Sunday that she is going to have twins.

It was surprising for Bruno, who is married but isn't pregnant.

"It was unbelievable," Bruno said moments after she had a psychic reading from Melissa "Earth Angel" Parks, a vendor at the market.

"Melissa has a true God-given gift that she is able to share with others," Bruno said. "She completely blew me away. She said the twins are still in spirit but once I get past some tests and lessons, then I can welcome those children into my life."

Bruno said that she actually had a confusing dream Saturday night, hours before the reading, that her sister, Danielle Pagano, who is single, was going to have twins. She even told her dubious sister Sunday morning be

fore the reading.

But Parks announced it was Bruno who would give birth.

"I sometimes see my sister as myself so that explains it," Bruno said.

"I was relieved," said the smiling Pagano, a rising star in the New Jersey hairdressing world, but not ready to have twins.

Bruno's encounter with Parks is typical of the fun and intrigue that swirls around the market every Sunday during season, said Nancy Ambrose, market owner and director.

The market, which has rows and rows of craft vendors, runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Sunday from November through July except for Easter Sunday, Ambrose said.

There is music from the Anna Maria Island String Band, which strolls the market 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Sunday.

Ambrose offered a bit of commentary about some of the vendors.

"This man makes shell art," Ambrose said. "This shell art takes so long to make. I couldn't imagine trying to make them."

She passed a row of booths with take-home German baked goods, jewelry made of buttons and take-home Italian cuisine,

"Elena's has the best Italian food you ever had," Ambrose said. "You just take it home and it is ready to cook it up and be ready for dinner."

Ambrose raved about Bradenton's Carol Anderson, who makes $50 purses out of cowgirl leather boots.

"These boots are gorgeous," Ambrose said.

Paula Knudsen, who makes pottery, has a frumple booth where she makes frumples. When asked, "What is a frumple?" Knudsen doesn't hesitate.

"A frumple is a little friend made of love and out of clay," Knudsen said. "A frumple has a goofy face to help you smile all day. A frumple in your pocket or under your bed at night can help to make things better even if kept out of sight. Miracles can happen, we know this to be true, when you hold your frumple in your hand and whisper, 'I love you.'"

There are jean purses and backpacks and buttons and Ya-Ya hats made out of honeycomb paper and sarongs and fans and a coffee vendor. There is a booth for all sorts of flavors of kettle corn and cabinet pulls from stones and stained glass and ribbon scarves.

Ambrose knew every vendor and every product by heart.

"I love these scarves," Ambrose said. "They accent any outfit and you can take them on trips."

Ambrose stops at Vintage Snapshots, manned by Shari Ripley, who sells reproductions of photos taken in Manatee County decades ago. They sell for $2 each or five for $5.

"We worked with the local historical library system and went through the process for permission to use them and had them professionally reproduced by a local printer," Ripley said. "We have photos from the early 1900s through 1940s of Cortez Fishing Village, Anna Maria Island, downtown Bradenton, kind of a nice nautical collection from the area."

Bathing beauties in their 1920 swimsuits are a popular choice, Ripley said.

Sam Black

Next to Ripley's booth is Sam Black, a living, breathing fiction writer, selling his books and availble to talk writing.

"This one is about the drug companies and crooked politicians," Black said, holding up a copy of his latest book, "Fatal Serum."

"It's fabulous," Ambrose said about having a living author at the market. "We love to have him here every Sunday. People really enjoy when they are here on vacation to be able to pick up one of his book while they are here."

"Oh, and Kia's amazing," Ambrose shouted, moving a few more steps to the booth next to Black where woodworker Kia Ward from North Port uses chain saws, chisels and grinders to make wood art.

"I'm going on my 31st year," Ward says. "I have carved effigies of a whole family including their dog in a tree. Right now I am doing a hand coming out of the ground and it will have a tree house in it and I am doing a project in Alabama of a giant coming out of the ground. It was a 200-year-old tree that fell down."

1 Ringy Dingy

Near Ward, Bradenton's Sheila Johnston has a toe ring booth called 1 Ringy Dingy.

"I once had a customer who wore 10 toe rings," Johnston said. "One on every toe but the big toe and a couple of toes with two or three."

Johnston said that toe rings make a foot look pretty.

Ray Butler was a few steps from Johnston, selling pottery made by the Nahwhal Indians who come from a small village in Nicaragua where they have been making pottery for more than 2,600 years. The pieces range in price from the $30 range to more than $4,000.

"These artists still use the same pre-Columbia techniques for making pottery," Butler said.

Ambrose is not even half way done with her tour but there is just enough time left for the reporter to hear the Anna Maria String Band, who have just arrived, play "Rocky Top"

By the time that Ann Faulkner (harmonica), Ron Wedekind (five-string banjo), Howie Banfield, (guitar), Carolyn Wedekind (cello) and James Hammond (violin) were in their groove, a crowd had gathered and Ambrose was dancing to the music, with a big smile on her face.

Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7072 or contact him via Twitter@RichardDymond.

This story was originally published January 10, 2016 at 11:31 PM with the headline "Manatee's Beach Market at Coquina has it all - toe rings to frumples ."