WINDSOR – Anyone within earshot of the Senior Center had an early St. Patrick’s Day March 12 when Hunt Family Fiddlers entertained a packed house at the Second Annual Irish Souper Bowl sponsored by Bertie County Arts Council.

About 150 people gathered to watch Mr. and Mrs. Clint Hunt of Virginia, along with their seven children, perform traditional Irish music and dance. The family is a Busch Gardens regular and one of the sons is a two-time international Irish dance winner who leaves the country within a few days to compete in Ireland again this year.

The audience dined on homemade potato soup, corned beef and cabbage, breads and desserts.

The event is one of the most popular sponsored by Bertie County Arts Council and tickets are hard or impossible to find weeks prior to the evening. Last year planners used taped music, but decided to grow the event in 2005 to include live entertainment.

Purchase of a $20 ticket allowed diners to choose a bowl that had been hand-painted by Bertie County artists under leadership of Judy Overton of Windsor. Then Overton fires the bowls in a kiln so they are food and dishwasher safe. No two bowls are exactly alike and scenes painted on the bowls might include cats, pigs, fish, fruit, flowers or an Italian hillside villa.

Besides painting the bowls, Bertie County Arts Council volunteers do all the planning, decorating and cooking for the supper.

For more information about this or any other BCAC event, call 794-9402 or email bertiearts@earthlink.net.