Orland fair delights shoppers
They left the gates of the Glenn County Fairgrounds with bags of goods and treasures as hundreds of vehicles packed the parking lot for the 34th annual Orland Craft Fair.
The weekend event filled the three main buildings with hand-made crafts and foods of all varieties as 250 vendors set up booths with unique gifts from far and near.
Sellers came from Redding, the Bay Area, Chico, Paradise, Los Banos, Santa Rosa and Orland to the delight of customers from around Northern California.
Fair organizer Olga Peterson said the holiday tradition is sponsored by the Orland Historical and Cultural Society with proceeds going to its projects such as the Alta Schmidt House Museum and Heritage Trail.
"Our slogan is 'Hand Crafts of Quality at Affordable Prices,'" she said.
"People come for the one-of-a-kinds on Saturday and the bargains on Sunday," Peterson said.
An estimated 5,000 visitors came to the fair, she said.
Goods included wooden signs, candles, paintings, clothing, knitted pot holders, caps, socks, wooden toys, dolls, pottery and more.
Local vendors also sold olive oil, cheese, nuts, produce and jams made from area farms, and 21 local non-profits sold food and raffle tickets as well.
Among the more unusual items for sale were wind chimes made from silver tea pots and forks.
Peg Rathburn traveled to Orland from the Sciad Valley near the Klamath River with her sparkling creations for the first time, she said.
"I feel very fortunate to get into this fair," Rathburn said. "There is a waiting list. It is one of the nicest I have been to."
She said she got into the wind chimes after getting a single fork for a gift and found she liked the sound. Seven years later, she is making the chimes with the tea pots doubling as planters.
Rathburn added she buys most of her pots and forks from estate sales and auctions because they are more ornate.
"They are beautiful and very clever," Tammy Calkins said, as she looked at Rathburn's chimes Saturday in Flaherty Hall.
Calkins, of Orland, said this was her first time at the fair but it looked great and there was a lot to look through at the booths.
Gina Forbes said she's been coming eight years and gets plenty of gift ideas.
"My family lives in Washington state," Forbes said. "I like to send local things home to them."
Trish Saint-Evens of Trish's Basket Case in Orland said her gift baskets filled with local products were selling well.
"People are really in the holiday spirit and say they enjoy the baskets because they are so pretty," Saint-Evens said. "I had a couple of ladies looking at the same basket."
Brooke Mundy of Bloom in Chico sold soy candles and fused glass there for the fourth year. "People are happy and in a good mood. It is more relaxed than other fairs."
And Joyce Moor sold hand-painted china there for the first time. Her creations are versatile and can hang on the wall or be taken down for use as plates, she said. They included floral and other patterns that were painted and fired numerous times, Moor said.
June Mitchell and her granddaughter Emily came from Corning and Red Bluff to see the fair and were impressed with Moor's china - although Emily said she prefers vintage jewelry and western items the best.
Contact Rick Longley at 934-6800 or rlongley@tcnpress.com.
