This Saturday marks the fourth year of Hill View Baptist Church’s annual Hill View Arts and Crafts Jubilee.
The event runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. off U.S. 430, during the church’s softball tournament.
A few years ago, Jimmy Harrell, organizer, and a few others from the church started looking into the arts and crafts scene in conjunction with their annual tournament. They came to realize there weren’t many options in the Greenwood area for crafters to showcase their work.
“So we decided to build one ourselves,” Harrell said. “We’ve spent the last couple years building it up and making it a big thing, which is something we are proud of.”
This year the jubilee will have anywhere from 14 to 20 vendors showcasing their wares and skills in individual booths. Vendors include local artists who work with anything from jewelry to bees. Plants, canned goods and woodwork will also be available.
“I do the woodworking myself,” Harrell said. “I’ve been doing it as a craft for the past four years.”
Harrell has worked with wood most of his life in one form or another with construction and carpentry. The house he lives in, with his wife Helen, he built from the ground up. Harrell also helped with the woodwork during the construction of Hill View church.
“I was looking for something that would appeal to people in festivals like this and decided to take my woodworking to another level,” Harrell said.
Inspiration came when a woman from his church handed him a picture of a chair she wanted him to try to make. The chair quickly turned into benches, swings, serving trays and even bird houses that Harrell sells at fairs such as Carrollton’s Pilgrimage and Holcomb’s Doodlebug festival.
“I take time in what I do, and I’m happy to say I create good quality products,” Harrell said.
In fact, one customer reported a swing that Harrell had made flew the deck in a storm and sustaining zero damage.
“It’s only worth your time and effort if you do something to last,” Harrell said.
Each piece Harrell does is unique, custom designed based on submitted photos, colors and size preferences. Adult size and kid size is available in just about everything he does.
“This craft and this event isn’t about the money,” Harrell said. “It’s about the family fellowship that can be found in a trade and at our jubilee.”
Food vendors and inflatables will also be available Saturday. For more information visit www.hillviewbaptist.net-/artsandcraftsjubilee or call Jimmy Harrell at 455-5673.
•Contact Laura Kay Prosser at 581-7233 or lprosser@gwcommonwealth.com.
