In general, signs like this one tend to
get driven past and unnoticed by about
10 to 15 cars for every one car that
turns to follow it -- maybe even more.
But the event taking place on Saturday,
November 19th here in Turners Falls at
the Franklin County Technical School,
seemed to be throwing that statistical
model out the window.
I've actually lost count of the number
of times I've driven past the sign for
a crafts fair.
In fact, I've never been to a crafts
fair in my entire life.
Known as the Little Drummer Craft
Fair, it got its start at the Holy
Trinity School in Greenfield over a
decade ago as part of the Candy Cane
Carnival. When that school closed, a
relative of the Greenfield organizer
who ran the music program here at the
tech school took it over, and used the
fair as a means to raise money for the
program's drum line.
So, we did that -- all the drum line
kids helped out organizing, working at
the fair, and all the money -- all the
proceeds raised -- went towards that
particular music program.
Unfortunately, the music program closed
down, so we decided that any proceeds
were going to go to the Franklin County
Tech School students as scholarships.
This juried fair features countless
vendors scattered throughout the
gymnasium, as well as down the hallway
leading to the lunchroom.
It's a fun and friendly gathering that
allows the visitors to browse and
purchase and the vendors to sell and
socialize.
More than anything, it's just nice to
get to see a lot of people who can
actually engage with your own art and
you get a sense of what people are
interested in and you get to discuss
what you make with them. You get to
find out what kind of things really
appeal, especially in terms of, like,
people wanting to learn the craft and
know more about the nuts and bolts of
what goes into it.
And that's always really fun to get to
actually just engage people about that,
because you can't get that if you're
sitting at home in your studio.
And apparently, there's no age
restriction on who can set up a booth,
as this nine-year-old young man proves.
This is his third craft fair.
And he gave us a nice little rundown on
how he puts together his wood art.
I make a list of all these pictures I
want printed, and then I cover all the
scrap boards with acrylic gel medium,
or polyurethane, And then I put the
picture upside down on it.
So, the paper is facing up, the plain
paper, and I let that dry for 12 to 24
hours. And then, I rub it off with a
wet cloth.
And then I -- after that dries for a
little bit, I sand around it to make it
look like it's blending in.
And then I oil the whole board.
In keeping with the original theme of
raising money for school programs, the
welding shop gets in on the action
every year as well.
We teach all kinds of welding, all forms
of welding, and we like to have a
little bit of fun and raise a little
bit of money for our program, so we
make some of these projects for the
craft fair. So, this is all student
made projects and some of it's stick
welding, some of it's MIG welded, and
it's all in sheet metal and fabrication
, and we make things for the craft fair
that help benefit our program so we
could buy shirts and go on field trips
and stuff.
Of course, it's also a chance to get
some shopping done.
For vendors and patrons alike, this may
be the one time per year that they get
to cross paths, so it's also a chance
to establish relationships.
Most of the people are either buying
Christmas presents for themselves or
they're -- they're out here, and, you
know, I've had more people -- because
this is my second year -- stop by and
say, "Oh, I'm glad you're here!
Because I bought one last year for, you
know, my friend and I want to buy more
of them for my family now."
It's just an amazing fair.
I'm just so thrilled that it turns
people a good profit, especially this
time of year. Some -- one vendor told
me this is her Christmas.
This is how she takes care of Christmas
at home. These people, I believe they
walk away with a good amount of money,
and that's what I want them.
I want them to come back next year.