2015 Antique Festival draws crowds

 

Grace McDonough of the Morrisburg BIA could be forgiven for spending a lot of last week staring at the sky. 

With 20 vendors and hundreds of visitors and shoppers expected in Morrisburg July 18-19 for the 17th annual Antique Festival, she was concerned about some very iffy weather reports. But in the end, the storms stayed away, and while the humidity was high, this did not seem to discourage visitors.

“Vendors have come from Quebec, Ottawa, Nepean, Smith’s Falls and locally,” McDonough, chief organizer for the Festival, said. “Most are repeats. They really like coming here, and most see it as a good weekend for them.”

There were many different antiques exhibited at the festival,  which was held in the centre court mall and in a section of the parking lot. “Everything from furniture to china and glassware, jewellry, primitives, signs, books, collectibles of every sort were available for people to see and purchase,” she said.

The location of the event, facing county road 2, has proved popular.

“Antiquefest is highly visible, and draws people in,” McDonough said. “It brings lots of people into our businesses and mall area as well. The area looks very welcoming, and that seems to get shoppers out.”

A new element to this year’s Antique Festival was the first appearance at the event of the Golden Gears Car Club. They set up a vintage car display at the eastern end of the mall. “It was great to see them here,”  McDonough said. “I really hope that this is the start of a wonderful partnership.”

Many people helped to make the event a success. Randy Prevost and the Morrisburg & District Lions club Leos were out in force to help with the event. They also sold cold drinks and ice cream to visitors, very welcome in the heat.

BIA summer student Sam Frawley and Chamber of Commerce summer student Benjamin Byvelds were also gaining valuable experience as they helped with the tasks necessary to run a major community event. 

And there were many, many volunteers who came out to help.

“An event like this doesn’t just materialize by itself,” McDonough said. “There are just so many people to thank.”

The success of the 2015 Antique Festival has encouraged the BIA to begin planning for 2016.

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