Welcome to the 43rd annual Bella Vista Arts & Crafts Fair

— Why does time speed by so quickly as we grow older? This is when it should slow down. It seemed to me that growing up in Minnesota, I waited for 50 years to turn 21, and now the years fly by. The ramblings of the aged …

It seems as though I just started as director of the Bella Vista Arts & Crafts Festival, even though this is my third year. We have changed a lot and tried new things - and some even worked.

We hope that the visitors who come to the festival are noticing that our artists are world class, and our craft artisans create unique and beautiful items that rival any gift store or gallery.

Our show is attracting artists from all over the United States, from Maine to Florida and over to California and Seattle. It is remarkable that they love coming to Bella Vista to share their creations.

Why do they make the long - or short - journeys? Why do some of them keep coming back for 20 or 30 years?

I believe I have discovered the answer to those questions. It is the friendliness and caring that we offer each artist who displays at the festival.

We are blessed to have the best possible team working on the event - and we go from the close of one show to immediately planning for thefollowing year. We have fun, and we take great pride that the Bella Vista Arts & Crafts Festival is the largest economic impact weekend for our city throughout the year.

We want everyone who attends - as an exhibitor, as a visitor, or as a volunteer - to enjoy their time in our community and to look forward to returning in future years.

It takes an enormous amount of volunteer time to stage the festival each year. We estimate that more than 200 people put in time to offer the friendly, cooperative and pleasant atmosphere that we are known for across the United States.

Some of the volunteers come as part of a community group, like Rotary, Kiwanis, local schools and churches, etc.

Each group receives a small stipend for their work, and they, in turn, share their resources with others in the community.

The rest of the proceeds are used by the sponsoring organization, the Village Art Club, to provide support to the arts and artists in our region through art scholarships,continuing education for artists, and support of the artist co-op, Wishing Spring Gallery.

So, all the proceeds go back into support of our Bella Vista area. What a grand cooperative effort!

We could not possibly do this without each and every volunteer and every sponsor who supports the festival with contributions, in-kind services, water and food for volunteers, and myriad of other things.

This year, we have more than 325 booths and 14 food vendors offering every delight for every appetite. We will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 13-15.

Why not plan to come and enjoy the fall weather with a breakfast croissant and special coffee? Enjoy a barbecue sandwich with potato curls and freshsqueezed lemonade for lunch.

Then, as you get hungry again, snack on kettle corn, fresh roasted nuts and the most delicious fudge in the world.

Finish up your day by ordering food to take home for dinner. After a full day of shopping, who has energy for cooking?

This will be another great festival. Please come and enjoy it with us and celebrate our great community of Bella Vista!

Area, Pages 22 on 09/28/2011