Antique show promises good times

Published 11:39 pm Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Coin dealers, weathered furniture, crystal repair and silver flatware — it must be time for the Suffolk Art League’s 27th annual antique show and sale.

The show, to be held this Saturday and Sunday, will feature 40 antique and collectible dealers from the mid-Atlantic region. In addition, crystal and clock repair and porcelain and frame restoration will be available.

The event is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Suffolk Art League, said Linda Bunch, executive director of the organization. The money raised supports arts education programs in the schools, which could be even more important this year because of state budget cuts, Bunch said.

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“It’s always a wonderful event,” Bunch said. “It’s really just a great variety, so if you’re looking for that perfect place setting, you can find it there.”

The antique show will feature a variety of vendors selling antique furniture, jewelry, glass, silver, coins, chandeliers and much more. In addition, people with chipped crystal or porcelain will be able to arrange for its repair at the show.

“If you’ve inherited Grandma’s crystal and some of the goblets are chipped, we have this marvelous gentleman from Norfolk who repairs chipped crystal,” Bunch said. Most crystal repairs can be done at the show. In addition, a porcelain repair artist will be at this year’s show, but porcelain items must be taken back to her shop in Virginia Beach to be repaired.

A floral acrylic painting by local artist John Taylor will be auctioned at the show. Taylor has been teaching painting since the 1970s, and is a charter member of the Suffolk Art League. Tickets for his painting can be purchased for $2 each or three tickets for $5. The proceeds also will benefit the Suffolk Art League.

However, not just art and antiques will be available for purchase at the show — food, including Brunswick stew, barbecue and homemade desserts will be available. The King’s Fork team will sell the main dishes.

“The money goes back into the school, so it’s sort of a two-tiered fundraiser,” Bunch said.

Suffolk Art League members will make and sell the desserts, also producing more money for the arts.

Bunch said the show makes a fun, inexpensive activity for a group of friends to do together.

“They can have lunch and make it a fun day,” Bunch said, adding that the group’s volunteers — particularly Dixie Peachy, the show chairman — make the show a success.

Admission to the show is $5 each day. The show will happen at King’s Fork Middle School on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call 925-0448.