Earlier Times event draws collectors from all over
The Earlier Times Antiques & Folk Art Show at Harvest Ridge on Friday and Saturday, April 21-22 brought in shoppers from many different states.
The Earlier Times Antiques & Folk Art Show was inundated with travelers both close to home and in faraway states, where those who have a passion for folk art and primitive antiques found plenty of pieces to purchase and call their own.
Show presenter Kent Williams said the group presenting the show has a following from throughout the Eastern and Midwest United States, and those with the passion will travel long distances to find items they’ve been seeking.
“There’s a special connection back into older times for people who enjoy collecting primitives and antiques,” Williams said. “It’s a lot of nostalgia that I think takes people back to simpler times, and it connects them with their family history.”
How dedicated are those who are big-time collectors?
Williams said the Friday show that started at 4 p.m. saw a lengthy line that started developing in the morning, and at 2:30 p.m., the line extended well beyond the reaches of the end of the expo center.
Shoppers Pat and Wendy Barton from Springfield, Ohio have visited this show and many others like it many times, and Pat Barton said the unique styles and colors and the beauty of the primitive antiques keep them and all of the other collectors coming back.
“We got here at 3 o’clock Friday, and there were already a lot of people sitting in chairs waiting to get in, such is the desire to be the first in the doors to chase down the items that are most highly sought after,” Pat Barton said.
For the Bartons that item is pie safes. Pat Barton said that in traveling in circles of collectors, he is known as the “pie safe man.”
The show didn’t disappoint, and they left with another pie safe in tow.
“It’s fun to just come in and take your time and peruse everything and not feel rushed,” Pat Barton said, adding they, like many others, went to Earlier Times Friday evening, then attended a similar show at Simple Goods in Berlin on Saturday morning, only to return to the fairgrounds in the afternoon.
“We’re glad the two shows are held the same weekend in the same community because it gives us an even greater experience,” Barton said.
He said they also like to hit several local antique and primitive shops around Amish Country and visit the cheese shops before heading home.
This is the fifth year for Earlier Times at Harvest Ridge, the show beginning under the guidance of Stacey Doit before Williams and a collection of others took over. Williams hails from Pickerington, Ohio, and he said when the show was in search of a new place to call home after failing to find a facility large enough in Lancaster, where the show has its roots, they searched the state and landed on Harvest Ridge’s expo center.
The show included 44 dealers and 42 booths, and each vendor brought with them their own style and panache.
Williams said they have dealers from Illinois, Connecticut, Indiana, Rhode Island and more, and the show has garnered enough interest to draw both shoppers and vendors in.
Vendor Dan Schrum from Granville, Ohio said he enjoys the trek to Holmes County. He and his wife have been attending this show since its early days in Lancaster, and he said while the objective is always to sell product, he also does a fair amount of shopping for items he feels like he can resell. In addition, he said they also enjoy the people because everyone there comes with the same passion for collecting primitives and antiques and because everyone is so friendly.
“We’re all connected by the same thing, and we all share that, which makes it easy to talk to people,” Schrum said. “There’s a lot here to see and talk about.”
He said they travel all over Ohio and beyond setting up for shows, but this one is one of their favorites because of the experience of being in Amish Country and the friendly atmosphere that accompanies the experience.
Known for its slow-down pace of life and simpler lifestyles, Amish Country and Harvest Ridge have proven to be the perfect place for Earlier Times Antiques & Folk Art Show to call home.