Purdy Craft & Vendor Fair prepares for sixth event
September 9, 2020
Sheila Harris
A little over ten years ago, Ken and Julie Terry, of Purdy, tore down a rental house they owned on the northwest corner of C Highway and Business Highway 37 in Purdy, with no certain plans for what they would do with the empty lot. Maybe storage units, they thought.
In the meantime, they decided to sell fireworks for the upcoming 4th of July holiday, so a tent was erected onsite for the purpose. The following 4th of July, the metal exterior of the building intended for storage units had been constructed, although work on the inside partitions had not yet begun.
“We decided to sell fireworks from inside the unfinished building that year, since it was just sitting there empty,” Julie Terry said.
That decision changed the course of their future plans.
“That year’s fireworks sales were so huge,” Terry said, “we realized our best use for the building might not be for storage units. That’s when the idea for a community event venue was born. We named it The Gathering Place, and that’s what it’s now used for.
“We use it as one of the sales locations for Terry’s Family Fireworks for a couple of weeks during the summer, and rent it out to community members for their purposes at other times of the year.
“About six years ago,” Terry said, “someone suggested we should host a craft and vendor fair in the building. I thought, why not?”
She immediately started planning. She chose a mid-September date, because she wasn’t interested in competing with other area craft fairs, which usually weren’t held until a bit later.
“That first year, we had 20 vendors inside our building,” Terry said. “Plus, we ran a concession stand that kept us busy. We thought we were pretty big stuff.”
She laughs now.
“Three years later, we had 60 vendors,” she said. “Of course we didn’t have enough space in the building. With the city’s blessing, we had part of Business 37 shut down, with vendors lining the street. We had to give up the idea of running a concession stand. Now we invite food trucks in.”
Although the weather was disappointing a couple of times, once with solid rain and another with extreme heat, this year’s forecast for the fair looks promising, she says.
According to Terry, 75 vendors have already committed to this year’s event.
“This looks like it will be the biggest year yet,” she said. “Several other area craft shows have been cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns, which is bound to help our vendor participation and attendance.”
With 75 vendors, the variety of items is almost too wide to mention, but goodies include clothing, purses, hand-crocheted and knitted items, leather products, gourmet foods, bath and beauty products, essential oils, jewelry, metal art, and antiques - just to name a few.
Terry said now that word has gotten out about her fair, she doesn’t usually have to do much soliciting. Vendors call her, instead. Not a bad problem to have.
Although Julie Terry handles the planning and organizing of the fair, she wants to make sure her husband Ken gets credit for the logistics.
“I couldn’t do it without him,” she said.
The Purdy Craft & Vendor Fair will be held Saturday, September 12, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the corner of C Highway and Business Highway 37 in Purdy.
A little over ten years ago, Ken and Julie Terry, of Purdy, tore down a rental house they owned on the northwest corner of C Highway and Business Highway 37 in Purdy, with no certain plans for what they would do with the empty lot. Maybe storage units, they thought.
In the meantime, they decided to sell fireworks for the upcoming 4th of July holiday, so a tent was erected onsite for the purpose. The following 4th of July, the metal exterior of the building intended for storage units had been constructed, although work on the inside partitions had not yet begun.
“We decided to sell fireworks from inside the unfinished building that year, since it was just sitting there empty,” Julie Terry said.
That decision changed the course of their future plans.
“That year’s fireworks sales were so huge,” Terry said, “we realized our best use for the building might not be for storage units. That’s when the idea for a community event venue was born. We named it The Gathering Place, and that’s what it’s now used for.
“We use it as one of the sales locations for Terry’s Family Fireworks for a couple of weeks during the summer, and rent it out to community members for their purposes at other times of the year.
“About six years ago,” Terry said, “someone suggested we should host a craft and vendor fair in the building. I thought, why not?”
She immediately started planning. She chose a mid-September date, because she wasn’t interested in competing with other area craft fairs, which usually weren’t held until a bit later.
“That first year, we had 20 vendors inside our building,” Terry said. “Plus, we ran a concession stand that kept us busy. We thought we were pretty big stuff.”
She laughs now.
“Three years later, we had 60 vendors,” she said. “Of course we didn’t have enough space in the building. With the city’s blessing, we had part of Business 37 shut down, with vendors lining the street. We had to give up the idea of running a concession stand. Now we invite food trucks in.”
Although the weather was disappointing a couple of times, once with solid rain and another with extreme heat, this year’s forecast for the fair looks promising, she says.
According to Terry, 75 vendors have already committed to this year’s event.
“This looks like it will be the biggest year yet,” she said. “Several other area craft shows have been cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns, which is bound to help our vendor participation and attendance.”
With 75 vendors, the variety of items is almost too wide to mention, but goodies include clothing, purses, hand-crocheted and knitted items, leather products, gourmet foods, bath and beauty products, essential oils, jewelry, metal art, and antiques - just to name a few.
Terry said now that word has gotten out about her fair, she doesn’t usually have to do much soliciting. Vendors call her, instead. Not a bad problem to have.
Although Julie Terry handles the planning and organizing of the fair, she wants to make sure her husband Ken gets credit for the logistics.
“I couldn’t do it without him,” she said.
The Purdy Craft & Vendor Fair will be held Saturday, September 12, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the corner of C Highway and Business Highway 37 in Purdy.