Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990 TAG: 9003310673
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CHRISTINA MOTLEY NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Volunteer Action Center of Montgomery County, a non-profit organization begun in 1972 that recruits, trains and places volunteers throughout the county, sponsors the fair, held in conjunction with Parents Weekend, as its only source of income, said Elaine Higgs, VAC executive director.
Last year the event earned $19,000 for the center, said Brenda Chandler, fair director.
The money is used to publish a Voluntary Opportunity Guide, applications, to provide transportation and training for volunteers and to help major volunteer organizations such as Parents Anonymous or Montgomery County's Christmas Store, Higgs said.
The Brush Mountain Fair, named after the mountain along U.S. 460 between Blacksburg and Newport, will be the largest fair since 1971, said Brenda Chandler, the crafts fair director.
"I honestly think it will be the best fair we've ever had," said Chandler, a Blacksburg resident who has attended the event for 14 years.
Craftsmen from all over the country will display pottery, leather, baskets, paintings, dolls and numerous other crafts, she said.
The juried fair, advertised in national arts and crafts magazines, accepts only handmade goods, Chandler said.
Ten jurists from the center view slides of artists' works and limit the number of entrants in each category, she said. "We do not accept anything commercially produced."
"We make everything from white pine lumber harvested in southeastern Tennessee and the Cherokee forest," said David Jack, 35, of Athens, Tenn.
He and his wife, Rhonda, 33, will participate in the fair for the first time this year. They are full-time folk artists who carve Santas and other figures as a full-time profession. Their goods sell for $50-$1,500 throughout the United States, he said.
Also new to the fair this year are Brush Mountain Fair T-shirts displaying the mountain logo designed by local artist Tom Butterfield. The Norfolk screen printer who produces the shirts will donate 25 percent of sales to the center, Chandler said.
Craftsmen pay booth fees, food vendors donate 15 percent of sales and there is a $1 admission fee for participants 13 and older. The fees are tax deductible, Chandler said.
Area residents providing live entertainment include the Barbershop Quartet, The Kitchen Kettle Band of Warm Hearth, face painting, the Virginia Tech jugglers, bluegrass and folk musicians, said Chandler.
Balloons, a possible visit from Tech's Hokie bird and the fresh aromas from food concessions - chocolate-dipped pretzels, Cajun grilled chicken and funnel cakes, to name a few - also will be available.
"We really enjoy the fair and the people," said Merrianne Griffiths of Falls Church. A full-time artisan for 12 years, she makes $2 Pennsylvania Dutch funnel cakes and her husband, Richard, makes leather goods - portfolios, handbags and belts.
The Griffiths heard about the fair nine years ago from a craftsman friend and have taken part ever since.
"It's so much fun," she said. "It's the only show we do in that area."
by CNB