By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel staff writer

Bobbie Norton has several personas.

For almost 21 years, she ran the Calaveras County courthouse where she prepared the court budget, was involved in purchasing and brought the courthouse into the computer age during the 1970s.

Retired for six years, Norton is enjoying her free time immensely, playing golf and working on her house.

In August and September, she has yet another persona — dressing up Burgundy Hall for the arts-and-crafts exhibit at the Grape Festival.

“I like being behind the scenes,” Norton said. “I’m not a very interesting person.”

To the contrary, Norton shows through her consistent enthusiasm for what she does how interesting she really is.

Norton proudly showed Uncle Sam, a mannequin she uses annually at the festival. She dresses the mannequin in a different way every year, corresponding with the festival theme.

This year’s theme is “America the Beautiful.” Last year, the mannequin was a cowboy, coinciding with the “Wild Wild West” theme. He has also been a magician and a clown.

Norton has been busy setting up arts-and-crafts exhibits for seven or eight years. She is responsible for displaying entries that range from decorative quilts and afghans to woodworking, glass blowing, painted china, ceramics and even painted rocks.

Norton said she never knows from year to year how she up her displays because the type of entries vary.

“I like creating,” she said. “When I look at an item, I think, ‘What am I going to do with this?’ ”

This year, many Christmas entries were submitted, so she has an entire section devoted to Christmas. However, Norton chose to combine Halloween and Thanksgiving items because there are fewer of those projects.

“She has an eye for design, taking a lot of unrelated objects and placing them together and making them look like they belong together,” said Mikki Simpson, assistant manager for the Grape Festival.

“That’s really a good summation of her job, and she’s very good at it,” Simpson said.

Norton is disappointed that the festival drew only about 500 arts-and-crafts entries this year, about half the usual number of entries.

“The junior entries are really low,” she said.

For the first time, Norton has some help setting up arts and crafts. Natalie Angele of Morada, whose father, Mark Yates, was Lodi police chief until his retirement 19 years ago, is helping Norton this year.

Born and raised in Gulfport, Miss., Norton moved to Calaveras County in 1973 and to Lodi in the late 1980s to separate her professional life from her personal life.

She was known by her given name, Roberta Norton, in Calaveras County. When she came home to Lodi, she became Bobbie Norton to achieve some anonymity from her other life. She retired in 1996.

“I have loved every day of my retirement,” said the bubbly Norton. “I get to play golf, have lunch with the girls and work in my yard.”

Norton said she began her annual ritual of running the arts and crafts exhibit at the festival when Simpson, a good friend, asked her to “help out” seven or eight years ago. She thought it might be a one-time request.

“You know how that goes — ‘Won’t you help out?’ ” Norton said.

Simpson replied, “I always had designs on keeping her more than one year. She does a great job for us. I hope she plans on doing it at least a few more years.”

Norton’s husband, Jim, drives a concrete truck. She has two daughters and four grandchildren. Jim Norton also has five grandchildren.

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