
DATE: Sunday, March 16, 1997                TAG: 9703150060

SECTION: HOME                    PAGE: G2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   89 lines

ELEGANT COLLECTIBLES TO FILL GYM FOR PORTSMOUTH'S SHOW AND SALE

THE GYM AT Hunt-Mapp Middle School in Portsmouth will be transformed this week into 29 ``rooms'' to display antique furniture, silver, jewelry and other collectibles at the Portsmouth Service League Spring Antiques Show and Sale.

Each walled booth will be finished like a room with colors selected by the dealers participating in the third annual benefit show, which opens with a private preview party Friday night and continues Saturday and next Sunday. Last year the show raised $5,000 for Eastern Virginia Medical School's geriatric outreach program.

``The dealers bought out the booths by July,'' said co-chairman Elizabeth Psimas. ``They like the way it's set up, and the sales have been good in the past.''

In addition to 29 dealers from seven Southeastern states, the show will have a garden shop created in a room just outside the gym by Seasons of Williamsburg.

``They will have flowers and plants, pots and decorative things for the house and garden,'' Psimas said. ``They are doing elaborate decorating with wallpaper and chiffon to literally re-create their shop in a room here.''

There will be some dealers new to the show this year, Psimas said, including an Oriental rug dealer and an antique tool dealer from the mountains of North Carolina.

``We'll have a porcelain dealer who has not been here before and also Printiques of Franklin, Tenn., who specialize in antique and botanical prints,'' she said.

The primitive side of the show will grow from one to three dealers, Psimas said. One of the dealers will bring a large selection of quilts from North Carolina.

Linens, jewelry and silver will be among the specialties and, of course, antique furniture will be displayed by a number of dealers.

``The crystal repair man will be back,'' Psimas said. ``He's bringing a second person with him this time, because he was so busy last year.''

The dealers are selected by Psimas and Margaret Perkins, another league member. ``We travel around to shows to meet dealers and to see their displays,'' Psimas said. ``We try to plan the show to have quality and variety.''

The popularity of the show, she said, is due to three things: hospitality for the dealers, the room settings and, most of all, good sales.

Customers have come from a wide area. Last year about 50 percent were from Virginia Beach.

The show will open with a preview party Friday night with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at the Woman's Club of Portsmouth from 6 to 8 p.m. The show, two blocks away, will be open for preview ticket holders from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

A silent auction of gifts from participating dealers will be held at the preview party.

Tickets for the opening are $25 per person and include entry to the show all weekend.

The league will sell marbleized eggs and pots made by members.

``We made 65 dozen eggs last year and sold out at the preview,'' Psimas said. ``This year we made 100 dozen. I hope some of them are left for sale during the remainder of the show.''

A cafe will be set up outside the gym and will feature sandwiches and sweets made by sustaining members of the league.

Psimas said about 28 women are active members in the league, and about 200 women are affiliated as sustaining members.

Also assisting as volunteers will be Navy personnel from Destroyer Squadrons 18 and 28, now berthed at the Naval Shipyard.

``They will be working as porters helping the dealers set up,'' Psimas said.

Major corporate sponsors are BB&T bank, Amory's Wharf restaurant, Moody Strople and Kloeppel law firm and WFOG radio.

Psimas said she and her co-chair, Lucy Johnson, hope this year to raise as much as $15,000 for the EVMS geriatric program run by Portsmouth Family Practice.

``The league has been affiliated with EVMS for many years, and this program appeals to us because it is a regional project that impacts on Portsmouth people,'' she said. KEYWORDS: PHOTO COURTESY OF EVMS

PENNY AND NED BARHAM OF PORTSMOUTH LOOK AT SILVER AND CRYSTAL AT THE

SPRING ANTIQUES SHOW AND SALE LAST YEAR.

GRAPHIC

WANT TO GO?

WHAT: PORTSMOUTH SERVICE LEAGUE SPRING ANTIQUE SHOW AND SALE

WHEN: 10 A.M. TO 6 P.M. SATURDAY; NOON TO 5 P.M. SUNDAY

WHERE: HUNT-MAPP MIDDLE SCHOOL GYM, WILLETT DRIVE, PORTSMOUTH

HOW MUCH: $5 PER PERSON

PREVIEW PARTY: 6 TO 9:30 P.M. FRIDAY. COST $25 PER PERSON

INFO: 399-0111