Shaker Woods Festival marks 30th year

Staff report

COLUMBIANA

The Shaker Woods Festival, the region’s top family craft gathering, will celebrate its 30th year this month. The festival will take place over three consecutive weekends, beginning Saturday.

The festival, founded to honor the 18th-century Shaker community, offers more than 200 craftspeople, representing artists and crafts from all across the country.

“Even though this year marks our 30th anniversary of the simple life at Shaker Woods, the festival has never grown old for us. It’s as exciting as ever,” said Sue Ferguson, who along with her husband, Sam, are promoters of the festival. “We love people, and putting on the festival has been the highlight of our summers for the last 30 years. Some people say life’s a journey. We’d say this is one part of the trip we continue to enjoy.”

In the early 1980s, the Fergusons were concerned that a time might come when the sale of their farm products might not cover the rising cost of producing them. While deciding how to extend the land into a more profitable enterprise, the Fergusons hosted an Apple Butter festival in 1982. That first fall festival has blossomed into the highly acclaimed annual Shaker Woods Festival. Shortly thereafter, Sue Ferguson researched the Shaker history and incorporated it into the festivals.

The Shaker community was a group of industrious and devout people whose inventions include the washing machine, spinning wheel and flat broom, as well as clothespins and packaged seeds. Shaker furniture is known for its simple, beautiful lines and fine workmanship. Each year, the Fergusons choose crafters whose work carries on the tradition of exceptionally fine workmanship.

Each juried craftsperson, dressed in Shaker period clothing, offers his or her wares in a cool, manicured wooded area. The level grounds feature crushed gravel footpaths for easy walking and access from acres of free parking.

Crafters demonstrate their unique skills without the use of modern conveniences — not even electricity. The diverse crafts include basket weaving, blacksmithing, broommaking, leather work, paintings, pottery, quilts, custom garden stones, plants, toys, jewelry and woodwork. The items for sale range from small miniatures to rooms of custom-made furniture and hand-carved masterpieces. Some of the crafters exhibit only at the Shaker Woods Festival.

An extensive selection of food also is available, from soups and sandwiches to complete meals — some cooked over an open fire. Snack foods and desserts also are available. Entertainment, from bluegrass to cloggers, is featured on two stages throughout the festival.

Darryl Gatlin, a native of Beaver County, returns to Shaker Woods on Saturday and Sunday and Aug. 25 and 26 performing on The Meeting House Stage. Returning Saturday and Sunday on the Garden Stage will be David Young, playing two Renaissance flutes (recorders) simultaneously in harmony.