The Garden City Telegram
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Whimmydiddle pulls in large crowd
Published 9/28/2009 in Local News
By RACHAEL GRAY
SCOTT CITY — Summer changed to fall last week, and the sights and sounds at Scott City's Whimmydiddle Arts and Crafts Festival Saturday helped usher in the new season.
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Rachael Gray/Telegram — Arnice Davis, Lakin, left, and Heather Koehn, Garden City, admire jewelry at a vendor's booth Saturday at Whimmydiddle Arts and Crafts Festival in Scott City. The women spent the day in Scott Park shopping and browsing crafts.
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Rachael Gray/Telegram — Rod Rapp, Wakita, Okla., makes jewelry to add to he and his wife's merchandise at Saturday's Whimmydiddle Arts and Crafts Festival in Scott City. Rod Rapp and his wife, CJ Brockus-Rapp, ran Brockus Creations, a handcrafted jewelry and sun catcher booth.
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Rachael Gray/Telegram — Teri Howard, Columbus, Neb., works the register at the Sawdust and Stitches booth at SaturdayÕs Whimmydiddle Arts and Crafts Festival in Scott City. Howard stayed busy Saturday to keep up with a long line all day filled with people buying crafts from Howard and her husband, John.
Festival-goers saw crafts with fall colors and fall themes, such as pumpkin and straw crafts with arrays of burnt orange and burgundy colors. Crowd members smelled fall potpourris, cinnamon and spices, fruit pies and funnel cakes as they made their way from vendor to vendor in Scott Park.
Sunshine and warmer weather Saturday brought people out in swarms to Whimmydiddle after a week of cool temperatures and rain.
Whimmydiddle is a festival that features food, crafts and vendors from local and out-of-state vendors. Each vendor pays a fee for a booth. That money is used by the Alpha Omega Sorority in Scott City, a local chapter of the Epsilon Sigma Alpha Sorority, a national philanthropic organization for women.
The money is used to fund scholarships for Scott Community High School students. It also is used to support Heartsprings of Wichita and Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital.
The line at the Sawdust and Stitches booth, operated by John and Teri Howard, stayed long all day.
People stood in the line sometimes with 15 or more people to grab up the crafts created by the Columbus, Neb., couple.
John Howard said the 2009 Whimmydiddle was the first the couple had been to in more than 10 years. He said he and his wife talked to other crafters who said Whimmydiddle still delivered thick crowds, variations of vendors and people willing to buy.
"This is one of the only shows we've done out west. For an area of just small towns, the show is great. It's a good turnout," Howard said.
John Howard and his wife have been in the arts and crafts business for more than 18 years. He said success in the crafts business comes from innovation and willingness to travel. They are full-time craft vendors.
At this year's Whimmydiddle, John Howard said, crafts with words and stars were particularly popular. He said they had sold many of their signature craft, the snowman.
John Howard said many craft vendors who give up the trade do so because of lack of sales. He and Teri change the accent colors on their crafts with each season. He said they adapt to new styles and trends of home decor to keep the merchandise selling. He said Sawdust and Stitches owes its successes to one person.
"It's my wife," John Howard said. "Teri is good at knowing what people want and offers it at reasonable prices."
Another husband and wife crafting couple came from Wakita Okla., for Whimmydiddle and have been coming to the festival for six years.
Rod Rapp and CJ Brockus-Rapp began making crafts together seven years ago. CJ does craft-making full time while Rod also farms wheat and milo and runs Hereford and Angus-crossbred cattle.
Rod said he and his wife return each year for the friendly atmosphere.
"It's definitely the people. They're real friendly. That's always good," he said.
Sybil Wagner, Liberal, has missed one Whimmydiddle Festival since it started in 1972. She called the festival a ritual among her friends, all members of the Beta Sigma Phi sorority. Each year, the women drive from Liberal to enjoy the craft vendors and to sample the flavor from the food vendors.
Wagner said she liked to come to Whimmydiddle because the crafters make different merchandise than some of the area crafters in Liberal.
"I love to come here to get fresh ideas and to buy things for the outside of my house," Wagner said. She said she and her friends planned to browse and shop all afternoon, then head back to Liberal at about 3 or 4 p.m. as vendors start wrapping up their booths.
Next year's Whimmydiddle Arts and Crafts Festival is slated for Sept. 25.
On the Web:
Did you attend Whimmydiddle? What were your favorite vendors? Talk about it at SWKTalk.com.
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