Just in time for the holiday season, the annual Pee Dee Artisans Market will be the place to find the best handmade items in the area. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Florence Civic Center.
Attendees will be able to enjoy the work of sculptures, artists, craftspeople, seamstresses, jewelers and others from the Pee Dee and as far as Atlanta and North Carolina.
Lead Organizer Teri Kooper was a vendor at the market for two years, but this is her first year in charge of the event.
“It’s been a lot of work, but still fun,” Kooper said. “I get to see a lot of neat things.”
Kooper was asked to take over the organizing the market when the original coordinator, Maria Butler, relocated from Florence. Kooper thought the market was such a great opportunity for vendors to display and sell their crafts that she did not want to see it go.
There will be about 41 vendors and Kooper expects to have more than 800 attendees.
This year will be slightly different for the market; there will be more vendors and will offer different types of items. Carolina and Clemson decorative items also will be showcased at the market.
An Ecuadorian man will be traveling from Atlanta to sell his silver sculptures that are mounted on driftwood settings. The silver that is used is recycled from photo labs and X-ray overflow developing solution.
Another new vendor for this year is a Florence man who will be selling his pencil drawings of historic buildings in South Carolina.
Kooper said there will be a little bit of everything at the market this year.
This will be the second year the market will be held at the civic center. The first year of the market it was held at the former Carol’s restaurant building on Cashua Street.
“There is a lot more space; it’s a better location,” Kooper said.
Along with being the event coordinator and a mother of four, Kooper is the owner of Cards by Kooper and will have a booth at the market. Kooper was a vendor at the market for the first two years and saw first hand how the market can benefit a business owner like herself.
“It seems like every year I have people that come back to me that I meet at the market,” Kooper said.
Cards by Kooper creates greeting cards, custom stationary, baby shower games and other custom orders.
Kooper began making greeting cards while she was at home raising her children.
“For a long time I didn’t even sell them,” Kooper said.
She slowly worked her way into craft shows in the area and then found the Pee Dee Artisans Market in Florence.
Kooper will work with vendors to bring a unique shopping experience to the Pee Dee.
“There is no admission free for the event, which is really great for the public,” Kooper said.
This story originally appeared on scow.com and was written by Diana Leavy.
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