These hand-carved wooden roses are an example of the stellar woodwork that will be sold at this year's Red Bank Artisan Festival. (Contributed photo)The Red Bank Masonic Lodge is aiming to improve on the success of last year's inaugural Artisan Festival with more vendors, a bigger crowd and more family fun.
Organizer Bob McGavock said the group has ramped up advertising and word-of-mouth to craftspeople from around the region, garnering nearly 50 applicants for the Oct. 28 event. No commercially made products are permitted for sale.
"We want to bring even more attention to the talented craftsmen attending," said McGavock. "Without them there wouldn't be a festival."
The artisans aren't just the draw, either. Almost all of the proceeds from vendor booth rental fees will go toward the lodge's charity fund to be used in the local community.
With such close proximity to Halloween, a spooky theme is new this year. Decorations will be thematically seasonal, and guests are invited to dress up in their favorite costumes. Members of the Alhambra Shrine will be in attendance in costume as pirates and clowns to entertain children and families alike, and the shrine's assembly of bagpipe players will provide music. Vendors are also encouraged to dress up for seasonal fun.
McGavock said lodge members have spent the better part of the year attending other craft festivals and fairs in the region to get the word out. He said he's particularly excited about some of the new vendors who will be in attendance this year, such as a freshwater oyster farmer selling authentic freshwater pearls and a woodcarver who uses a hand planer to turn blocks of wood into roses.
"He even gets them to smell like roses," McGavock said. "Pictures don't do it justice. And he charges just 10 dollars for 10 of them. We've got new jewelers and other new woodworkers, too."
Last year's festival brought in nearly $2,000 for the lodge's charity work, allowing the group to support causes including Red Bank Elementary's special education classes and a battered women's group through a local church which McGavock said preferred to stay anonymous.
The lodge has also donated to individuals in the community in need, he said.
"There was one gentleman who rides up and down Red Bank in his wheelchair. He's a veteran, and one of us got to talking with him and he said his needs exceeded his income," McGavock said.
The group responded by donating out of the fund to purchase supplies, and several members donated their time on a weekend to build a wheelchair ramp at his home.
"We don't have enough to give sometimes," McGavock said, referencing needs which extend beyond the fund's balance. "We do a barbecue in September, and we have this [Red Bank Artisan Festival]. Those are the only charity events we do, and so we need them to be successful to keep giving back."
The event is being held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Unaka Street near Morrison Springs Road. Parking and admission are free. For more information, contact Bob McGavock at 667-2960.