Things to Do in Exeter

Color Me Mine puts paintbrushes and pottery in the mitts of customers old and young. Budding Toyozo Arakawas will follow six easy steps to craft beautifully painted ceramics, first choosing a ceramic piece (most cost between $12 and $70) from Color Me Mine's selection of hundreds of seasonally changing items. After charting out the desired design from individual imagination or Color Me Mine's idea gallery, painters will select an underglaze from a cast of more than 75 colors, then apply paint with the focus of a peregrine falcon occupied by a Rockwellian spirit. Color Me Mine handles all kiln-firing work, allowing clients to take home their final products within three to five days. A studio fee of $5 for children 12 and under, $7 for teens 18 and under, and $10 for adults covers all paints, supplies, glazing, and firing.

Certified dance instructors Pete Swingle and Carmen Ahmen relish the challenge of curing extra left feet. They welcome total beginners to their salsa classes, where their patience and supportive attitudes help students feel comfortable enough to pull off the hip-swaying steps. In the interest of steadily progressing students to intermediate and advanced moves, they set up specific goals for each level, ranging from "step in time" to "twirl your partner without having to rely on shoes made of roombas.” They teach disciplines apart from salsa as well, including cha-cha, cumbia, and merengue.

Though learning show-stopping techniques is one of the core benefits of their lessons, Pete and Carmen also hope to reward protégés with the additional perks of dancing, including stress relief, improved muscle tone, and new friendships. Sunday dance socials focus on the latter ambition by gathering dancers for practice in a party setting, which sometimes features live percussion shows and music giveaways.

At Fresno Fencing Academy, head coach and former Soviet and Ukrainian champion fencer, Vladimir Ostatnigrosh, distills his experience to foster a new generation of duelers within a 4,200-square-foot facility that boasts electric fencing strips, a fitness room with weight machines, and changing rooms. Ostatnigrosh invites students of all levels, aged 7 and older, to discover the art of parrying and thrusting, which nurtures self-discipline while bolstering the cardiovascular system and developing the skills necessary to retrieve stolen lunch money from Zorro. The academy’s classes, which range from introductory to competitive levels, cover the three Olympic fencing weapons: the foil, the épée, and the saber. Those expert swordsmen and swordswomen who have mastered the fencing rules and refrained from detonating any last-resort grenades during a match defend the academy’s robust reputation at local, regional, and national tournaments.

Central Valley Scuba Center educates adventurers in the science of scuba at an on-site classroom facility before heading off on trips to the tropical waters of the Atlantic. The Center's 12-foot-deep outdoor diving pool allows certified instructors to give hands-on direction to beginning students and divers seeking certification. Those who enjoy scuba and receive certification can join instructors on adventures to Cozumel and the Caribbean islands. There, they'll dive amid tropical fish and spy on movies filmed in Atlantis.

At the Break Room, players grab a cue and maneuver past a foosball table and boxing machine to face off at one of 16 9-foot pool tables. Tunes pump from jukeboxes and LCD televisions readily show the sporting event du jour in a space permeated by free WiFi.

For more than a quarter-century, the Fresno Home & Garden Show's organizers have canvassed the Central Valley to collect and concentrate the knowledge of scores of building, décor, gardening, and landscaping professionals. As homeowners browse booths and, blueprints in hand, consult with vendors on planned projects, master gardeners talk about sustainability and vegetable gardening, and landscaping competitions determine which artists can construct the largest molehill-based mountain.