11-14-2021 2:40pm

Saline Craft Show Makes Triumphant Return

Drew Saunders Neighbor

The Saline Craft Show made a triumphant return after more than a year of being out of the calendar because of the Coronavirus. But the Saline Middle School was still full of show-goers eager to get back to the 240 craft vendors who were at Saturday’s show.

“I came all the way from Lansing because it is such a great show,” Jina Patton said, purchases in hand.

Getting the show together was quite an undertaking for former Saline Area Schools teacher Cheryl Hoeft. Hoeft said that she warned her vendors that it would take a while to get back into the swing of things simply due to being out of practice for over a year, but despite this, the show went great; with crafters coming in from 14 states and attendees coming in from as far away as Columbus and Chicago.

“I think it went great,” Hoeft said. “We had a great crowd and they were buying. The customers were eager to see the crafters, who they hadn’t seen in 735 days, and the crafters were eager to see the customers. Many of them have relationships with them … It’s a very special relationship to be buying from someone who made the product.”

The craft show makes Saline a destination for people like Brenda Duggan, who has been traveling from Temperance to shop at the show for at least five years. When asked how this year’s show compared to previous ones, Duggan said it was better.

“It’s not as crowded this year, but they still have a lot of wonderful crafts and art,” Duggan said. “It’s not too far from where I live … and the variety of different arts and crafts that are here, and the people are all very friendly.”

The show would not be possible without SAS student groups; who helped set up and facilitate the day.

The show is the lifeline for some crafters, who make crafts professionally and a retirement hobby for people like Steve Youtsey. He and his wife brought holiday decorations at their table and said that he liked the show “Because everything is hand made. You can see the personality of the people that does all of the handcrafting. It’s not things bought overseas and brought in. … Everyone is so bright and energetic, we love it”

Youtsey and his wife Julie start making their crafts about three months before the show and rely on it to let people take their work off of their hands. They have been working together for about three decades.