Campus-based fair offers local artisans the opportunity to showcase their wares
Every year, the University of Guelph hosts Fair November, a juried handicraft sale featuring local vendors which helps small handicraft businesses expand their market in the local community of Guelph. This year’s fair ran from Nov. 17 to Nov. 20 and eager customers lined up for vendors throughout the University Centre. The vendors sold a variety of different crafted items, food, jewelry, toys, clothes, ceramics, and everyday household items. Even though they may be selling similar items, no vendor booth was the same in the making and creation of their products.
Jerry Thorpe, owner and founder of Thorpe Toys, has been in the crafts business for 41 years, along with his wife Rosemary.
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“I got laid off from work, [as a] project engineer, so I figured being an entrepreneur of my own business would keep me employed. It worked out,” Jerry Thorpe said in an interview with The Ontarion.
Thorpe Toys makes safe, non-toxic, BPA-free, and eco-friendly hand-crafted wooden toys. Thorpe designs and makes all the toys himself. The toys are very durable, last for a long time, and no material is wasted. The scraps of wood and sawdust left over after the production of a toy are donated to a monastery. The scraps are used to ignite the fire for the stoves while the sawdust goes towards the chicken coups. Their business has been successful and is still growing; they even have customers from a garden centre on Madison Avenue in New York City. They make most of their income around the holidays because their toys are usually bought as gifts.
Another vendor, Richard Mund, has been in the crafts business for 19 years with his wife Samantha.
Mund studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design where he originally planned to study graphic design. He incorporates graphic design elements into his pottery work to make it look unique. Through Richard Mund Pottery, the couple makes and sells dinner sets and plates, cups, bird houses, address plaques for homes, vases, bowls, and wine coolers.
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“Several designs that we make for our business are even inspired by the custom orders placed by our customers,” said Samantha Mund.
She also said that to have a good life, the work should be balanced. Since it is a small, family-owned business, they prefer to go to smaller arts fairs and shows.
“Everyone thinks [people in the crafts business] need to be bigger to be happy. We’re happy being small,” she concluded.
These two craft vendors are a but a small part of the growing crafts community and a piece of what Fair November has to offer. The annual fair is an excellent place to do a bit of holiday shopping, or just grab a piece of homemade fudge.