Crafts, food, music, and more is what to expect at Mountain Artisans Hard Candy Christmas Art and Crafts Show, Nov. 29-30, in Cullowhee.
The Mountain Artisans Art & Craft Shows began in Macon County in 1987 with only eight artisans exhibiting at the first Christmas show in Franklin.
We never imagined that, down the road, we would be headed to the wonderful Liston B. Ramsey Activities Center on the Western Carolina University campus in Cullowhee. It was a dream come true. As the years have flown by, more and more artisans wanted a good place to sell their handwork and they joined us. The southern craftsman is alive and well. Many of us are descendants of the first settlers in the region. We grew up using heritage crafts and sleeping under quilts our mothers and grandmothers made. The older generation inspired us with sewing, pine needle baskets, clay art, and primitive furniture. Our hope is to preserve and share with you these vanishing crafts.
Mountain Artisans’ Art and Crafts Shows provide a marketplace for customers and artisans to meet. It is an amazing collection under one roof. For example, you will meet Robert Martin Cabe (Marty), who is a sixth generation of the first settlers in the Macon County Cartoogechaye area. He has been creating fresh wreaths from mountain greenery for some time. In fact, he held the Guinness Record in 2005 for making the most wreaths in 24 hours.
He will be bringing his Christmas collection of swags, sprays, and original cards to the craft show. Each wreath will have local “findings,” such as Fraser Fir, Boxwood, Holly, and native cones. Attendees can watch as he makes custom sizes and shapes for individuals.
An assortment of hard-to-find mistletoe shot out of high limbs with a .22 rifle will be available as well.
I especially welcome Marty to the show as he is my cousin on the Cruse/Waldroop side of the family. My grandfather was a brother to his great grandmother, “Aunt “Doc” Cruse Waldroop. She was regionally famous and admired as an herbalist, doctor, and true mountain woman.
This year’s featured artist will be Regenia Ford, “Mountain Memories,” of Hartford, Tenn. She hand-paints her favorite subjects, mostly our beautiful mountains, on rustic barn boards and antique windows. She also creates original Christmas ornaments.
So many wonderfully talented craftspeople exhibit at this crafts show; there is not enough space here to mention all of them.
Ronnie Evans will entertain with live guitar performances. He also will be selling his CDs to enjoy all year and signing copies of his latest historical book, “Brinkley,” the nonfiction story about the rise and fall of Dr. John R. Brinkley, known as the “goat gland doctor” of the 1920s and ’30s. Ronnie’s wife, Jean Gregory Evans, will be selling her latest signed children’s book, “Who Knew the Llama Knew?”
Mountain Artisans Hard Candy Christmas Art and Crafts Show is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at the Liston B. Ramsey Activities Center on the Western Carolina University campus in Cullowhee, 92 Catamount Road. Admission is $5 for adults; children under 12 free. For more information, call Doris Hunter at (828)524-3405or (828)421-8181 or visit www.mountainartisans.net.