Wood burning among features at Pelham home show
Wood-burning demonstrations at the Pelham Home and Garden Show will add a unique edge this weekend.
The vendor show, organized by Fonthill and District Kinsmen Club, will feature more than 75 vendors.
The show, which is in its 22nd year, begins today running 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and continues Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Pelham Arena on Haist Street.
Local artist Jerry Vanderklok, 66, will have a booth at the show all three days, where he will showcase his wood-burning techniques, some which are incorporated into his clock and coaster creations.
Vanderklok also burns initials onto small pieces of driftwood for children who want to take something interesting home. He said he enjoys giving the free pieces of wood away because it piques people’s interest in what he’s doing.
“I’m more of a hobbyist … it’s like therapy working in my shop,” he said.
This will be the first time Vanderklok — his work can be viewed at www.rustic-creations.ca — has attended the Pelham Home and Garden Show, which has become an important spring event for the Pelham community.
Vanderklok’s works are part of a large number of offerings which will be available at the show, said Kinsmen spokesperson Kevin Twomey.
The show was initially created to offer the local business community a way to showcase its goods and services to local residents and to keep shoppers in town. It now features everything the spring handyperson or gardener could be looking for, including for renovations and items for the garden.
The low $3 admission also helps support worthy local causes with proceeds going to Pelham Cares and Emily Allan’s End to End run for cystic fibrosis in June. The run will see the Fonthill resident running nearly a marathon a day for 22 days starting June 10. She plans to run the entirety of the Bruce Trail’s 895 kilometres in support of Cystic Fibrosis Canada and hopes to raise $8,950, or $10 per kilometre, for the cause by the time she finishes on July 1.
The run is a perfect event for the Kinsmen to support as the service club’s national fundraising program is cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease affecting Canadian children and young adults that can often be fatal. At present, there is no cure. For more information on the run visit www.endtoendcf.ca.