IF YOU GO
What: Beersheba Springs Arts and Crafts Festival.
When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday (all times Central).
Where: Beersheba Springs United Methodist Assembly Grounds in Beersheba Springs, Tenn., Highway 56, 25 miles from Monteagle, Tenn.
Admission: Free.
Phone: 931-692-3733.
Beersheba Springs Arts and Crafts Fair has served as the unofficial kickoff of the fall crafts show/festival season for 44 years.
The 45th annual fair will be held Saturday and Sunday on the historic United Methodist Assembly grounds in Grundy County.
The scenic drive to Beersheba Springs, Tenn., is one reason to make the trip, but browsing almost 150 exhibits is good motivation as well.
"There will be between 140 and 150 vendors from several states with many exciting arts and crafts to display and sell," said Fran Holt, publicity chairwoman.
Holt said "handmade or home-produced" is the policy required of craft exhibitors. This fair is one of the few shows that has remained true to its policy on authenticity.
Holt said several new food vendors will be at the fair, and hot meals for breakfast and lunch will be served in the hotel dining room on the assembly grounds.
After dinner on Saturday night, stick around for the 7 p.m. concert and dancing by the Rhythm Express Cloggers.
"We have a young girl coming who is just getting started in singing, Heather Fults, whose father was originally from Beersheba Springs. Her grandparents still are here," Holt said of the concert artist.
All proceeds from the festival are returned to the Grundy County community. Holt said money raised helps fill food baskets for needy families as well as benefiting the Beersheba Springs Library, Beersheba Springs Rescue Squad, Beersheba Springs Community Center, Grundy County Center for Exceptional Citizens and North Elementary School.
Susan Palmer Pierce is a reporter and columnist in the Life department. She began her journalism career as a summer employee 1972 for the News Free Press, typing bridal announcements and photo captions. She became a full-time employee in 1980, working her way up to feature writer, then special sections editor, then Lifestyle editor in 1995 until the merge of the NFP and Times in 1999. She was honored with the 2007 Chattanooga Woman of ...
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