Green Mountain Antiques Show

WOODSTOCK, VT.

:The eighth annual Green Mountain Antiques Show in the Union Arena for the second year had good growth in sales and a full house of exhibiting dealers. Visitor traffic was near the totals of last year, but some of last year's traffic, according to one of the show's committee members, Bob Fraser, "was due to the mailing to the Union Arena's donors, who came to the charity fundraising event. It was the first non-ice skating event in the new facility last year. This year, the dealers came with good antiques and we saw a lot of case pieces [furniture] going out the door."

For the previous six years, the show had been scheduled to run the week prior to New Hampshire Antiques Week, but last year it was moved to two weeks ahead, so the July 30-31 dates were less in conflict with other activities. Fifty-six dealers were mostly from New England, with a few coming from farther afield. This has become "Vermont's premier summer antiques show," according to one of the exhibitors. He added, "Because of the highly visible location and because it is indoors, we can bring our best to show it and not worry about the weather, unlike two weeks ago when we were rained out in another other show."

New Hampshire dealer John Rogers said, "It was a very, very, very good show, as I sold many of the best pieces I brought to the show. The buyers of my corner cupboard came to get it at the end of the show and then also bought the comb back Windsor chair, and that was only half of my show."

One Connecticut dealer sold throughout the weekend, and his sales were a mix of things, including an early English hall globe lamp, a church bench at $400, a collection of early English porcelain and two stands from the Eighteenth Century. The stands were sold to the same buyer, but one sold on Saturday morning when the show opened and the other during Sunday evening pack-out.

Sue Lilly is the owner of Red Horse Antiques in Bridgewater, Vt., and this is one of the few shows in which she participates. She did "quite good, really, as we sold a variety of things, including the stone squirrel, which was priced at $450." Lilly's shop is on the same road as the show, Route 4, but a few miles down and open by appointment or chance.

Ron Chambers from Higganum, Conn., has been doing the show since its start in Chester eight years ago. He, too, was pleased with the sales, for he no longer owns the four-drawer chest that he offered at $2,000, and there were seven more transactions from his booth.

Plainfield, N.H. is home for Robert Hay, who calls his business The Packrat. Hay makes sure his booth fits the title. His sales over the weekend included a pair of early English brass wall sconces, several stands, a variety of early iron implements for the home and several baskets. His collection is based on what he finds traveling around Northern New England, and it is fun just to rummage through it for the great finds he offers.

Not all the dealers were local. Dover House from Lexington, Ky., brought a mix of furniture and English dishes, a collection of the type called soft paste. Henry Callan collects and trades in Staffordshire porcelain and Sandwich glass, which is reasonable since he lives in Sandwich Mass., across the street from the Sandwich Glass Museum. His favorite piece at this show was a dark cobalt blue platter decorated with strawberries and apples and several birds feasting on a worm and snail.

Mad River Antiques owners Steve and Lorraine German of North Granby, Conn., said they were pleased with their results. They sold a wide variety of antiques, big and small. Their sales included furniture, the best basket in their collection of Native American wares, some Vermont coin silver and various other smalls.

The show was a "bright light in sales for most of us, with decent sales in spite of a modest gate," according to Fraser. The dates for next year will be approximately the same, the last weekend of July. The show committee is made up of four antiques dealing and collecting families - the Pills, Dunns, Stahuras and Frasers. They produce the show for charity and take no money out of it; their only compensation is a booth and they work very hard for free to do it. It may sound corny, but it is a happy show with happy people, dealers and customers, and it seems to make a little money for all involved.

For information, 802-484-5942.