‘Heart Of The Prairie’ Craft Sale Brings Out The Country In Everyone
Anyone still conjuring grange halls and ghost towns in the same mental image wasn’t among the crowd that descended on the Five Mile Grange on Saturday searching for autumn-themed crafts.
The only ghosts were made of fabric and were piled high in shoppers’ arms along with patchwork pumpkins, witches, floppy scarecrows and wreaths adorned with fall foliage.
The country feel of the grange added to the fun.
“It’s cool in the old grange,” said Vicki Daggy of Suncrest. “I’m in a country mood now. I think I’ll go to Green Bluff and get apples after this.” The “Heart of the Prairie” craft sale is just one of the many events, programs and parties that keep Louise Braman, Five Mile Grange secretary, busy balancing the grange hall bookings.
“No smoking or drinking in the hall, that’s our main rule,” said Braman.
Lilac City Cloggers, church events, Halloween parties and family reunions fill the hall at Five Mile and Strong roads when it’s not being used for regular grange meetings and activities.
Saturday, the simple wooden building bustled. Cars filled the parking lot, then overflowed into the lot of the boarded-up Five Mile Elementary School across the street.
Thirty minutes after the doors opened, the line of country-craft fans wrapped around three walls of the hall, waiting to pay for their rustic wooden signs, apple-shaped magnets and calico cats.
They came from down the street or across town, lured by enchanting descriptions from friends and family who stumbled on the event last fall.
“It’s country, and small and doesn’t have a big, impersonal feel,” said one woman.
Organizers Marilyn Moser and Tami Wylie hand-picked the 17 exhibitors, looking for unique, quality crafts with Halloween and Thanksgiving themes. “There just seem to be so many Christmas craft shows, we thought this would be different,” said Moser.
She estimates more than 450 shoppers passed through the wood-floored hall Saturday, nearly half of them during the first couple of hours. “It’s just a lot of fun,” said Five Mile resident Lynda Koch. “There are so many fun and unique things.”
, DataTimes