Local fair draws crafty shoppers

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Hey mom, this is just my size. Little Shelby Nearing seems fascinated by this miniature Christmas tree at the Civic Center’s Arts and Crafts Fair Saturday. She is the 3-year-old daughter of Steve and Renee Nearing. (Charles W. Johnson photos)

An appreciative and shopping-oriented crowd showed up this weekend for the 34th annual Arts and Crafts Fair at the Civic Center. The event, sponsored by Union Planters Bank, drew around 8,000 visitors who browsed 168 booths.

“The first one started out on the third floor of the Union Planters bank downtown,” said show coordinator Glyna Lee. “We had 21 booths. After three years we outgrew the bank and we moved to the Civic Center, and we had it up on the balcony for the first two or three years,” she recalled. “Since then we’ve been filling the whole thing.”

Shoppers had a wide variety of merchandise to check out, including everything from painted china and handmade dolls, to holiday decorations and a wide selection of wonderful things to eat.

Bank employees started working Thursday night to set the up for the two-day event, beginning when the doors opened at 10 a.m. Friday and ending at 8:30 Saturday.

“We do it just for our customers and our community,” Lee said. “It’s not a fund-raiser or anything. It’s just a community service that we have.”

But Lee noted the event does have a positive effect locally.

“The economic impact is good,” she said. “We have several people from out of town who come in, so they stay in our hotels and eat in our restaurants.”

The economic impact on local crafters is also significant, according to Lee.

“A lot of people, this is the only show they do,” Lee said. “So they work all year for this show.”

And judging by the armloads of handmade goods shoppers were hauling out of the fair, all that work was worth it.

“We’re excited,” Lee said. “It’s been a really good year.”