About the "Hard
Candy Christmas" Show
The
"Hard Candy Christmas" show is the longest
running of the two events.
The shows are put on by Doris
Hunter, the Macon County artist, who promotes both shows.
Doris says "it started
20 years ago with a dream and only 8 exhibitors, including
herself". She envisioned a Christmas show in Franklin that
would feature the area's best artisans. When she
mentioned the idea, not many of her artists friend were
enthused. They said: ”When the last leaf falls, no one is
here to buy arts and crafts and the locals will not support such
an event". Undaunted, Doris convinced a few of her pals
to go along with her. The Friday and
Saturday after Thanksgiving was picked as it is the biggest
shopping day of the year. The first show was held in the
small Slagle Memorial Building in Franklin. The rock
building had a big fireplace so we called the show “The Fireside
Art & Craft Show. The exhibitors were Doris Hunter
(Pinecone birds), Michael Rogers (Watercolors), Gail
And Roger Marsengill (Country craft), Linda McKay
(Victorian craft & bears), Cynthia Star Lightfoot
(Granny dolls, Rod Eirwood (Jewelry), Norma Deeks (Cowee Creek Pottery ). The eighth exhibitor no one
remembers.
Doris
and her friends had no experience promoting a craft show, but the first
show was a huge success.
“We stuck a few homemade signs on the road and two ads in
the local paper and the customers just poured in!”
Over the years, they never stopped coming!
Year after year people looked forward to shopping for
quality gifts and decorations for their homes.
The Hard Candy Christmas
is a great getaway for houseguests after the Thanksgiving turkey
dinner! "We did not know it then, but a mountain tradition
was born that was destined to become the largest Christmas art and craft show in the western part of the state."
The
second November, the show moved uptown to the old Callahan
Building on Main Street in Franklin. There were 18 exhibitors. The town
was packed with shoppers coming to the show. The downtown
merchants wanted us to come back but the Callahan building had
just sold and the show would have to find another home. It
was off to bigger things for the show!
The
third November, the little show moved into the gym at the Macon County
Community Building. There were 23 artisans and everyone had to spread
out to look as if we had a lot of exhibitors. We were amazed
at the crowds that came to the shows.
The fourth November, my friends decided they did not like giving
up Thanksgiving afternoon to set up a show and the group
disbanded.
But Doris stayed on as promoter. "The show was in danger of dissolving.
I could not let my dream die so I became the promoter, changed
the name to the “Hard Candy Christmas"" "Many people
have asked me why I picked
that name. It is because of my Mountain heritage" she
says. "I am
the youngest of eight children
of a mountain family that spans five generations and
Christmas was very special as we always had apples, oranges and
of course, hard candy!" "Mountain children were given gifts hand
made with love, too".
For
the next fifteen years the show was flourished in the Macon County
Community Building in Franklin. Doris tells what effort went
into making the show special. "It took a lot of work to give
that old building the Christmas spirit each year". "I cut long carpet rolls in
half , painted them white and rolled them with red ribbon to carry
out the candy theme". "I brought in fresh greens and a
crock pot with spices so the building would smell good." "In spite
of my best efforts, it was not where I wanted my show to be".
The rooms were all separated and I wanted my
exhibitors to be in one room with good lighting and surround
music. Little did she know that her hard work was about to
pay off "My wish list was about to come true" !
In the summer of 1989, Doris decided Macon County needed another event
for all of the summer visitors. She rented the Macon County
Community gym and borrowed the World's Largest Quilt from
Maco Crafts (a local craft co-op ) to hang on the long wall for
interest. The quilt had a special interest to Doris as she
has a square in the big quilt. " My square
was called "Aunt Lizer's
Star" and took me two weeks to sew". This was the
beginning of the
July show. It was called "Christmas in July " for
a many years thereafter as many visitors bought early Christmas
gifts at the show. The Summer show had many growing pains
during the years in Macon County. Several times if was held
outside and encountered the common summertime thunderstorm
complete with wind rain and hail. The name was changed to
the "Summertime" show when the show moved to Cullowhee.
In 2006, the door opened for me to bring
both shows to the upscale Liston B. Ramsey Center on the campus
of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee N.C. The
arena area has 18,000 square feet of wide aisles, easy access and
ample parking. The surround lighting and music make it easy for artists
and shoppers alike to enjoy the show.
It is air conditioned in the summer and heated in the fall. It is uptown accommodations in a
small town charm. More than all that, there is
room to grow the show in time.
Some
of the most talented artists are located in the WNC
area. You will find them at these shows. Many of them,
Doris met
at shows where she was an exhibitor while others have met by
visiting shows throughout the region. "I am always looking for unique artisans".
Many of them are friends who have known me over the years. I
think you will like them too and be proud to own
some of their work.
