Antique show a draw for vendors and customers alike
The GFWC Intermediate League of Butler’s Antique Show and Sale attracts hundreds of people who enjoy antiques that stand on both sides of the table.
Denise Kendel-Stewart, owner of Sisters Three and Me, has tabled the event for the past three years, and said she not only likes selling her pieces at shows, but also relishes the opportunity to meet other antique appreciators and browse their offerings.
“We love it. You meet the nicest people,” Kendel-Stewart said. “We’ve met so many different people that are into this business that are just great people and we become good friends.”
This year’s sale is March 14 to 16, at the Tanglewood Center in Butler Township. According to Anne Miller, chairwoman of the show and sale, there will be about 40 dealers at the event, many of which are returning from previous years, and many more coming for the first time.
Miller said the club members invite dealers to attend the event and they try to get a good sample of different types of antiques so people who attend the sale have plenty to choose from.
“We want to have a wide variety of items,” Miller said. “We have some loyal dealers who are interested in coming back each year, and the show has a following and (the vendors) have a following.”
Yolanda Cypher, publicity chairwoman for the Intermediate League of Butler, said this is the club’s 73rd annual antique show fundraiser. Proceeds from the event will benefit 15 nonprofit groups in Butler County. The organizations receiving money are: Butler Area Public Library, Butler County Symphony Orchestra, Children’s Advocacy Center, Community Health Center, Community Meals Ministry, Friends of Preston Park Foundation, Butler Intermediate High School Best Buddies, Isaiah 117 House, Kids’ Weekend Backpack Program, Maridon Museum, Butler Musical Theatre Guild, NAMI Butler County, Butler City Shade Tree Commission, Take A Stand and the Tanglewood Center.
Miller said the presence of popular antique dealers help make the event successful and raise more money for the selected nonprofit organizations. According to Miller, members of the Intermediate League of Butler are the main liaisons with dealers and they seek out dealers to come to the three-day event.
“Our show is very well-regarded; dealers want to come to our show,” Miller said. “It is through invitation, and they have to be a licensed antique dealer.”
The antique show and sale raises money through admission, which every guest pays to enter the show, and table fees.
Miller said that while the event takes place all weekend, many shoppers want to get to the sale on Friday — opening night — when the vendors present have their full inventory available. People who attend the show Friday also pay a higher admission price, but Miller said that price gets them admission through the whole weekend and the earliest look at the vendors’ supplies.
“The thing about coming Friday, is you get the first peek at everyone's goods, so the selection is better at that point,” Miller said.
Kendel-Stewart said that even after years of the antique show, the event remains popular and “it’s just busy.” It’s a fun event for her and hopefully the people who attend to browse antiques, Kendel-Stewart said.
“Friday night is so fun because that’s the opening,” Kendel-Stewart said. “After doing shows all these years, a show that stays consistently busy all day is a plus. That’s what keeps us coming back, and the sales are good.”
According to Miller, items that will be on display at the show include primitives, jewelry, silver, glass, pottery, historical documents, depression glass, lamps, lawyer bookcases, tins, stoneware from Western Pennsylvania, Native American silver jewelry, folk art cupboards, oil paintings, watercolors, glass clocks, midcentury radios, vintage tablecloths, kitchen items, Flo Blue china, quilts, furniture, guns, dolls and crocks.
With so many items and vendors attending the show, Kendel-Stewart said it is difficult to predict what will be popular each year. She said popularity comes and goes with antiques and values, so certain items may be more plentiful at a show than others.
That’s why Kendel-Stewart buys and sells items she likes — an item’s value is up to the beholder to determine.
“A lot of things just go in our home at first,” Kendel-Stewart said. “If you walk into my house you'll see everything.
“I don't buy anything I don’t like. We go to a lot of flea markets, we go to estate sales, we also get phone calls from clients to come see what they have that they would like to get rid of.”
After being in business for more than 20 years, Kendel-Stewart said she and her husband only sell at shows now, and do an average of a dozen per year. Even after all that time, she still enjoys being an antique dealer, not just for the moneymaking part of the job, but for the connections she makes as well.
But don’t get her wrong — Kendel-Stewart said she still gets excited to shop at antique shows to this day.
“We’ll do it as long as we can,” Kendel-Stewart said. “It gets in your blood and I love to shop.”
Advance tickets for the GFWC Antique Show and Sale’s opening night, Friday, is $12, and $15 at the door. The advance price for Saturday and Sunday is $7, and $10 at the door. Advance tickets are available by contacting Intermediate League of Butler members, or at Don Paul Jewelers on Main Street in Butler.
The antique show is open from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday; from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, at the Tanglewood Center, 10 Austin Ave, Butler Township.
