These sticks were made for walking.

And selling.

Paul Kelly, a Charleston resident, began designing hand-carved walking sticks several years ago as a way to relax and now he'll be displaying his handiwork for sale along with 250 craftsmen at the 22nd annual Mound Festival Arts and Crafts Show in South Charleston.

The event will take place around the mound from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9. A smorgasbord of food including hot dogs, pizza, barbecues, shaved ice and funnel cakes will be available...

...Kelly said he never had any intentions of taking his work public.

"At first it started off as a hobby," he said. "I started making so many of them I sold a few to some folks. My daughter is the one that kept pushing. My daughter said you should go set up.

"It has quality craftsmen and good prices," she said. "If you have something special in mind you better come early. It appeals to all different types of people. It's just a great day to spend and a nice way to get acquainted with South Charleston. There's good things all day long."

Laura Wiik, who's been the Mound Festival chairwoman the past five years, said there's something at the Mound Festival for everyone...

...Wiik said the Mound Festival was started so local craftsmen who worked out of their homes could show off their work and bring in some revenue.

"Many people have been coming year after year and even a few every year since it started," she said. "We want everyone to come out and have a good time. I think anyone interested in arts and crafts would want to come. It's the best one around."

Kelly said he's looking forward to his inaugural craft show.

"Even if I don't sell anything, I'll have a good time," he said. "I enjoy the people. I think I've got something a lot of people will be interested in."

Kelly cuts down the trunk, uses broken glass to shave the bark, then finishes the wood into his signature walking sticks.

After more than four hundred handcrafted sticks and lazy days at arts and crafts fairs, Kelly said he still loves his hobby, which he picked up after retiring as a press manager for Charleston Newspapers.

During Saturday's Mound Festival in South Charleston, Kelly sat tinkering with a stick too long for his liking and talked about his craft.

"The hardest part is finding the wood," he said. "It's really just trial and error."

As shoppers gazed at Kelly's wood creations, the sounds of local musicians blared in the background.

The aroma of apple, cream and cinnamon candles wafted through the air, competing with the grilled corn on the cob.

Saturday's festival, an end-of-summer tradition for South Charleston, brought a "great" crowd to the grass and streets around the mound, said Bob Anderson, executive director of the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Now 25 years old, the festival brings crafters from all over the valley to peddle their goods.

People perused the numerous crafts tents, including one with Susan Lockard-Hammock's handmade basket displays.

Working her fingers like a machine, Hammock weaved the imported reeds in and out of each other, forming the top of a decorative sleigh for another of Hammock's creations, known as Baskets By Susie.