Busiest Hands

Busy Hands has busiest weekend ever

Matt Rabbie creates intricate hand-made ornaments using wood sourced from trees on his farm near Northport.

The Busy Hands craft show had its most successful weekend ever in its 19-year history, drawing thousands of people to the Wellington and District Community Centre. Seventy-five vendors offered a wide range of craft and artisanal products ranging from repurposed fur coats to vegan cheeses, from meatless munchies to whiskyinfused maple syrup, from fine ceramics to intricately crafted felt dresses. It’s a far cry from the show’s humble beginnings when Vicki Emlaw and Bay Woodyard and three other vendors set up a weekend sale of crafts and preserves in their shared kitchen at their house on Morrison Point Road. It was their way of earning a little money to tide them over until the next growing season started. “We did it at our house for three or four years, and then moved to someone else’s house that was a little bigger, then to the Milford Bistro, then to where Books & Company is now, then we moved upstairs there, and we outgrew that five or six years ago and then found this space here,” said Emlaw. While the economic impetus has somewhat lessened for Emlaw and Woodyard, as their businesses have become well established, the show provides a welcome boost in earnings for many of the vendors taking part.

One new vendor this year was Kelly Diamond of Viticult, who makes plantbased cheeses and pâtés. “We make three different types of cheeses and we do a walnut-mushroom pâté and sweet and salty grain bars that are made using grains from breweries in the County,” she said. “Our whole approach is we use the same methods and cultures you would use with a dairy cheese, but without the dairy. We actually launched in August this year, so we’ve been in business for just under six months. It has been quite busy here, and there are a lot of people interested in trying our products, whether or not they’re fully into a plant-based lifestyle. This show is a great way to get the exposure.” Another producer of vegetable-based snack food was Bailey Stocker of Pigout Meatless Munchies who offered a tasty vegan bacon alternative. She was trained as a chef and after working in restaurants she decided to go into business for herself about three years ago, selling her products online—her vegan bacon is now available on Amazon. “I have several products that the public seem to really love, whether they’re meateaters, vegetarians or vegans. There’s something for everyone,” she said.

Hannah Melnyk has now expanded into using colour for her ceramic wares.

Many of the shoppers come year after year, and for some this is the start and sometimes end of their Christmas shopping. Anne Dumbrille has been shopping at Busy Hands for over 10 years now. “We get gifts for everybody, as well as for ourselves,” she said. “We basically focus on the food, and the preserves are amazing. I make my own, but these are better.” Her husband Les Stanfield had high praise for the crafts that are available. “The stuff you can buy here is fabulous. We bought this beautiful hand-crafted tree ornament and we haven’t decided if it’s for us or to give as a present. This is the only event that I go to for this kind of shopping.” Visiting the show is as much a shopping outing as it is a community event, with friends and neighbours stopping to chat in the aisles, and vendors renewing acquaintances with customers from previous years. Emma Dobell of Andy’s Originals has been on both sides of the counter, as a shopper for many years and as a vendor for the past three. “It’s terrific every year at Busy Hands,” she said. “It’s really all about community, and it’s a great way to kick off the holiday season. The show is really well laid out and Bay and Vicki are really great.”

The notion of keeping the craft show as a community event is central to the success of Busy Hands. “The feedback from the vendors is that even though they are busy all the time, they feel like they’re at a party and they are having a good time,” said Emlaw. “They feel like it is such a beautiful place to be and that all our community is here. That’s why I keep doing this, because it’s worth keeping our small-town mentality that when our neighbours are doing well, we’re doing well. We’re here to support each other so that we can make a living here, and you can really see that everybody is here for each other.” It is worth noting that Emlaw had the hottest selling item in the show. Her somewhat salacious and scandalous 2020 Carrot calendar was completely sold out. Featuring images of naughty carrots in suggestive poses, the entire run of 137 copies was quickly snapped up. Of course, people said it was not really the pictures they were interested in, but moreso the biodynamic planting dates. She is now taking advance orders for a second printing.