Honoring life’s simpler times
When Brenda Buckingham put together an antiques sale one year ago, she had little more than an idea. “I was convinced that there was enough interest around here for another show,” she said. “I just had to figure out where to have it and then how to get dealers interested.”
She chose the Bigelow Gulch Grange, situated on the rolling Peone Prairie and invited dealers to join her. After the initial sale in the fall of 2005, Buckingham held another in the spring.
The little idea has grown. This year, with that experience behind her, Buckingham is feeling more secure. She’s on to a good thing and she knows it.
“We’ve gotten more vendors and everyone is excited,” Buckingham told me. “People are hearing about ‘Past Blessings.’ “
In addition to local antiques dealers, Buckingham has packed the weekend with good food and performances by local musicians. “You can’t celebrate the past and not include music,” Buckingham said. “Music conjures memories and communicates on another level.”
Buckingham’s husband is a musician and shares her love of old-style music. During the show, shoppers will be entertained by concerts by local bluegrass, celtic and acoustic musicians. Musical acts include blues band The Doghouse Boyz, acoustical guitarist Mark Walker Rhodes, country and bluegrass artist, Lonesome Lyle (Lyle Morse), The Crooked Kilt, Emma’s Nasty Apple, and Bluegrass Conspiracy.
As the antiques sale grows, Buckingham would like to bring in artisans. “We’re hoping to have people demonstrate the skills of our ancestors,” Buckingham said. We want to make sure things like spinning, quilting, tatting and soap-making don’t become forgotten skills.”
The idea of the old grange filled with antiques, the sound of folksy music in the background, and the sight of craftsmen and women on the lawn fits perfectly with Buckingham’s feeling about celebrating life as it was in the past.
“I’m drawn to life the way it was, the way it used to be,” she said. “I think it is the desire for times that were simpler and less hectic.”
Buckingham concedes that the old ways weren’t always the easiest ways. “I can’t live without my computer or the microwave,” she said with a laugh. “But the values our grandparents and great-grandparents had shouldn’t be lost.”
That’s how she decided on the name of her show.
“As I reminisced about how things used to be, I got the idea for Past Blessings.” Buckingham said. “That’s what we do when we take old objects and give them a new purpose.
“We’re making fresh the blessings of the past.”