: The 11th Annual Okemo Antiques Show at the Okemo Mountain ski
area followed the Weston event in the weekend's show chronology.
Down the road in the town of Ludlow at the Black River High
School gymnasium, another show took place on the same day, but
the two shows' opening times were conveniently staggered so that
shoppers could attend both shows.
Pat and Don Clegg, who do business as Abbott House Associates,
manage the Okemo show and have done so for eight years. "High"
American country is the show's calling card, but collectors can
find great examples in many other categories.
Contacted after the show, Pat Clegg reported, "The show was a
great success from our standpoint. Attendance at the preview was
very strong. We could barely contain the throng for the last few
minutes before opening. By our count, we had exactly the same
number of preview attendees as last year, which was a record. On
Saturday, attendance was down slightly from last year. The good
news is that they seemed to be buying. We were pleased to see a
great deal of merchandise being carried out. This was also
reflected in the dealer comments. Most reported strong sales and
were pleased with the show."
For example, Gary and Judy Promey, Atwater, Ohio, who were doing
the show for the second year, had good results, selling good
painted smalls and "feel good" antiques. A server from New York
state in original untouched paint exhibited original knobs and a
nice Shaker-like form. The Promeys also brought an indigo and
white New York State Washington coverlet. Gary Promey said,
"Strong customer interest and selling was up from last year," he
said, adding that Okemo was a "pleasure to do; good management,
great merchandise, easy in and out, knowledgeable buyers, low key
atmosphere. Buyers showed enthusiasm, looked things over, asked
questions and generally came to buy."
For Michael and Lucinda Seward, Pittsford, Vt., Okemo "feels like
being with friends in their living room or having a tailgate
party on the lawn - lots of great folks and friends and beautiful
objects to admire." Lucinda Seward said that she believes that
the Cleggs have resurrected this show, "which is no easy task,
and one of the biggest blessings that is bestowed on everyone is
that there is much cooperation among the promoters so everyone
can have their turn to provide shoppers with some of the best
country and formal antiques presented in New England at a great
time of year up here."
The Sewards sold their usual mix of folk art and early American
objects. "One of the most fun things I sold," said Lucinda
Seward, "was a papier mache dress form that just came from a
farmhouse auction a short ways from here that put you in mind of
an exhausted Venus de Milo."
Doorstops, hitching posts and hooked rugs were leaving the booth
at American Sampler, Barnesville, Md., where Nancy and John Smith
were getting a good response at their first show appearance. A
hooked rug with a star and geometric design, 31 by 39 inches, and
another depicting a kitten playing with a ball of string, 20 by
30 inches, were on display, and the Smiths had brought lots of
smalls, including a child's bookholder from the 1880s, a pair of
teddy bears, croquet balls, early fish decoys and decorative cast
iron door knockers.
Linda and David Steele, Taftsville, Vt., were having a very
positive show, writing a lot of slips and displaying a quantity
of Americana and New England textiles, such as quilts from Maine,
as well as baskets. They also had brought six Pennsylvania
chairs, circa 1840-50, with a nice mix of original paint, and a
Sheraton-style cherry Hepplewhite table with one drawer. A late
Eighteenth Century six-board blanket chest had bootjack legs and
snipe hinges, and was priced at $995.
Jane F. Wargo, Wallingford, Conn.
Mickey Mouse - or at least his avatar in the form of a an
ashtray - greeted visitors at the booth of Erik Gronning,
Portsmouth, N.H., but there was nothing Mickey Mouse about the
attractive collection of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century antiques
to be found there. They included an early Nineteenth Century domed
trunk in original paint, a hutch table, large and small samplers
and a New York gate leg table, circa 1710, among other items.
There were many interesting finds in the booth of Jill Wojtaszek,
Port Jervis, N.Y., the most unusual of which may have been a
Ngata sarcophagus, a very rare item from a small tribe along the
Zaire, Ruki Iki Remba Rivers and Lake Tumba. Also on display were
three old hickory hoop back chairs from the 1930s, a rustic bench
purchased from a convent in North Carolina and a pair old Cree
snowshoes made by Agnes Smallboy, Attawapiskat, Northern Ontario.
The snowshoes had been found in an attic where they had been
stored for 50 years.
For information, 717-259-9480.
