Sale of 2011 Friendship Ball Also Benefits Auditorium Revamp

Hand-crafted glass friendship balls have become a tradition of the holidays in Haddonfield. This year’s ball is cobalt blue with flashes of silver. “It looks like a snowy night,” said Mel Fendt, co-owner of Accent Studio at 123 Kings Highway East.  Accent Studio is the only outlet for the decorative balls.

The shop owners donate a portion of the sale price of the balls each year to the holiday house tour funds. Fendt and partner Ric Venzie said it’s usually several hundred dollars.

Since the 17th century, glass blowers in Europe and North America used the glass remaining in the furnace at the end of each day to create decorative balls. Given as gifts, these handmade balls have traditionally been known as a symbol of friendship and good luck. This year’s ball was designed and created by Elias Studios from Westport, MA.

Each Friendship Ball was hand blown using techniques developed thousands of years ago. A blowpipe is dipped into a pool of melted glass, rolled over bits of colored glass and then shaped into a ball with gentle blowing and reheating. The ball is then cooled slowly in an annealing oven. Each Friendship Ball is unique with variations in patterning and surface unlike any other. Each is gift boxed with a history of the Friendship Ball tradition and a brief biography of the artist.

The high school auditorium's planned rehab will get another boost from.