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Manchester Center, Vermont

Smalls and Lots of Furniture Sell at 31st Annual VADA Show

by David Hewett

The Vermont Antiques Dealers’ Association (VADA) held its annual show in the Hunter Park pavilion in Manchester Center, Vermont, on September 24 and 25, and, despite initial fears caused by gas prices and the overall state of the economy, it was a very successful event.

“The gate was down some,” Howard Graff, co-manager, said, “but because the walls had been left standing from the last use of the building as a skating rink, which made the aisles a little narrower than before, several exhibitors thought the gate must have been up.

“That narrowing, plus the new carpeting on the floor, helped the ambiance of the place. Dealers found it easier on their feet, bouncier than before, and it was also nicer looking.”

Graff is southern Vermont’s godsend to the dealers’ association. For over ten years now he has been a co-manager of VADA’s annual show, and that visitors have found no obvious faults to them says a lot about the hours of work he and co-manager Elizabeth Harley spend putting all the pieces together to produce a seamless event.

Furniture moved quite briskly, Graff said, with some exhibitors selling up to three major case pieces over the two days. Cupboards moved extremely well, as did chests, and at least one major Windsor chair also sold. While we were there on Saturday morning, mostly smalls were selling, although we did see one painted blanket chest exiting the floor.

One piece of signed Vermont furniture did sell here, and we found we did not photograph it as we had intended to do. A four-drawer mahogany chest made by Aaron Miltimore (1801-1852) of Weston, Vermont, was offered by Norman and Mary Gronning of Shaftsbury, Vermont, and purchased by the Vermont Historical Society.

We’ll keep the general comments to a minimum and try to show you what the dealers brought to the show, but we do think it’s worth mentioning that we have heard from insiders that some VADA members suggested moving the dates of the show to coincide with the five shows scheduled a week later in the same area, now grouped as Vermont Antiques Week, and reported on elsewhere. The Hunter Park pavilion wasn’t available to VADA on that weekend this year because Carlson & Stevenson were using it for their one-day show.

As it is presently structured, the second day of the VADA show saw lessened traffic, maybe as much as 40% lower than last year, some dealers said, and that might be the result of so many events coming on the next weekend. On that Sunday, besides the Carlson & Stevenson show, Paul Davis ran a one-day show at the nearby Equinox hotel with an advertised 50 dealers. If the VADA show could be fit into the already existing five-show schedule for southern Vermont on the last days of September and the first days of October, it could be a show-filled week in the Green Mountain State that could rank with regional events held elsewhere in New England. We’ll let you know what happens.

For more information, visit the Web site (www.vermontada.com).