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Fog/Mist ~ High: 32°F ~ Low: 27°F Friday, Feb. 10, 2012 |
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Bell Buckle gets crazyPosted Saturday, October 20, 2007, at 12:21 AM
About eleven months ago I moved into a quiet little town of four hundred and five people. Tomorrow morning, that's going to increase to between eighty and a hundred thousand people (from what I've heard). We drove into town tonight and there were tents, RV's, canopies, and food booths setup all over town. I was sitting on my front porch drinking a PBR at 11:30pm and a guy was walking down the road. That's REALLY odd for the bustling metropolis of Bell Buckle. He did at least say "Good Evening", to which I replied "It is a good evening, isn't it?” After living in Jacksonville, FL I've been pretty hesitant about talking to people that are just walking down the road at night. Not anymore though, I guess that's part of adapting to a small town again. I'll keep you guys posted as to the state of this year's Arts & Crafts fair. Come on down and join the fun. I'm sure there will be plenty of interesting things to see and do. If not, I'm sure there will be plenty of interesting people to see.
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Enjoy Thom.
We live two miles out of town but have property in town and used to be merchants. (In some way, we still are)
The fair certainly changes the town and some locals just go away for the weekend. We almost did that, but intstead, I am on my way down there now. (7:30 AM)
I'm just wondering, when did it go from a 'hand made' craft fair, to a city-wide Flea Market? I saw more wholesale "whirligigs" and blow up Dora or Spiderman stuff than actual craftwork. A real disappointment, if you ask me. I was thinking of getting a booth, but now I'm glad I didn't. Some may not think of it this way, but having a booth with handmade craft items next to a Dollar Tree type booth, only takes the value away from the hard work the real crafter did to make the actual crafts. I think they should divide the town... real crafts on one street, and Flea Market on the other. Not mixed around like I saw today.
One more complaint...
Why, when there is such a large congregation of people, do people forget manners? When trying to ease our way thru the crowd, people would just stop dead in their tracks, and walk backwards... not turning to see if anyone was behind them. And if you say "Excuse me", instead of moving 6 inches to the side to let someone by, they just look at you as if you are speaking Latin or some other dead language. There was one young lady who inadvertently bumped me, and she said "My bad". No problem, I supposed that's today's generation's way of being polite. But the people my parents age were the worst when asking them to step aside and let a faster group pass thru. It's not just in Bell Buckle... it's everywhere these days. I feel like I'm wasting my breath trying to "mind my manners" as my mother would say. Maybe from now on, I should just bulldoze my way thru if I need to get somewhere.
Well, that's my rant about the so-called "Craft Fair" (Flea Market). I surely won't be going back until some changes are made regarding the differences in crafts and wholesale items. I felt is was a great waste of a beautiful day. JMO
Interesting comments about the mix of booths and the quality of what is supposed to be a juried show (at least the Webb area) The juried area was a bit disappointing to us as well. There were some great artists/craft-persons there, but there seemed to be a lessening of standards. Still better than the open areas, but.....
As far as why the rest of the town is such a mix, it is because it is not an organized event outside of the Webb area. The larger areas couuld be, but they are after the dollar more than trying to create a standard of quality.
We understand that need, but we have an area next to the tracks that we are trying to start another juried area with an emphasis on demonstration of their talents. That would surely confirm that they were hand-made.
Most of the interest came from folks who were adding value to imports or wanting to sell items other than crafts. We chose to not set up booths and try again next year. We want the area to be fresh and creative.
We are told that quality craftsmen will not commit for the first year or two. I am not sure how we develop a quality area without exhibitors, but maybe we would not be as choosy as long as the products are truly hand-made. To us, the demonstrations would add a lot of value and interest.
Tomorrow we will continue our search.