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Dogwood to celebrate three decades
By Lynn Hotaling
A thriving crafts center that got its start through a notice in this newspaper will celebrate its 30th anniversary this weekend.
Dogwood Crafters, Jackson County’s only non-profit crafts cooperative, will mark the occasion with an open house at its Dillsboro shop. The event, scheduled this Sunday, Aug. 27, from 2 until 4 p.m., will feature homemade cake and live music from members Ron and Julia Thompson of Alarka, and Ron Smith of Greens Creek. Smith is the husband of member Nan Smith, who transforms plastic grocery sacks into attractive crocheted tote bags.
Dogwood Crafters, Jackson County’s only non-profit crafts co-op, will celebrate its 30th year during a Sunday, Aug. 27, open house at its Dillsboro shop. The event is scheduled from 2 until 4 p.m and will include live music and homemade cake. – Herald photo by Justin Goble
“Crafters have always made use of the items at hand,” said Brenda Anders, Dogwood’s self-proclaimed head cheerleader.
According to Anders, Nan Smith’s bags are just one example of the way Dogwood members recycle and create beauty from discarded items. Another member paints burned-out light bulbs and turns them into Christmas ornaments, she said.
“We’re continuing a mountain tradition, but we’ve moved from cloth flour sacks to Wal-Mart bags.”
Anders, who’s been with Dogwood for 28 years, says she’s done everything possible to publicize the shop and its members.
“That includes making a fool of myself on TV,” she said of her frequent appearances on WLOS’ noon “Carolina Kitchen” segments, where she shares recipes from the three cookbooks Dogwood members have compiled through the years. In addition, Anders encourages members to share their skills with television audiences by appearing on WLOS companion segment “Crafts Corner.”
Dogwood Crafters member Shirley Cox displays a doll she made that’s for sale at the crafts cooperative. The Dillsboro landmark is staffed by its members, who keep the store open 12 hours a day, seven days a week during the busy summer season. – Herald photo by Justin Goble
As Dogwood marks its three-decade milestone, Anders paused to reflect on the co-op’s beginnings.
“It all started with an ad in The Sylva Herald that read ‘If you’re interested in selling your handmade crafts, come to a meeting at the library,’” Anders said.
A dozen people responded, and they began Dogwood Crafters. In the beginning, the crafters each set up tables and sold their own wares. After a few weeks, however, they realized there was no need for all of them to be there at the same time.
These days, members work 20 hours per month in four-hour shifts and keep the store open 12 hours per day, seven days a week through the busy summer season.
Dogwood was initially located in the house where the Chocolate Factory is now, Anders said.
Dogwood strives for the friendly feel of an old homeplace, Anders said. Its present shop is a row of log cabins that have been connected as the co-op expanded into them. The cabins were built by M.B. Cannon and were rented as tourist cottages for 40 years; Dogwood moved into one of the cabins in April 1977.
The founding 12 crafters were the first of some 500 members Dogwood has had over the years, said Anders, who estimates current membership at about 100. Members must live within 175-mile radius, and the items they bring to the shop must have been handmade by them or a member of their household. The other requirement is that a person’s work has to be unique to Dogwood.
“It can’t be a duplication of something we already have. For example, we have six quilters, but they all specialize in different areas,” Anders said.
Dogwood’s high standards are maintained by an anonymous committee, which changes its members every year. That group reviews all new applicants and performs an ongoing evaluation of the crafts in the shop, Anders said.
The co-op remains committed to the community and its tradition of local crafters, and the group started a scholarship fund about 10 years ago, Anders said. Proceeds from the few items in the store that are not handmade – spices, postcards and music – are used to help area students.
Shop revenues have declined in recent years, a fact Anders attributes to high gas prices and the hurricanes that have plagued Florida in recent years.
Realizing Dogwood needed a boost, Anders and fellow member Susie Ray wrote a grant proposal and received $50,000 from Asheville’s Janirve Foundation to “advance the shop.” With those funds, Dogwood mounted an advertising campaign and reprinted its popular cookbooks. Apart from $2,000 Jackson County commissioners donated in 1977, the Janirve grant is the only outside funding Dogwood has received.
Anders attributes Dogwood’s success to the dedication of its members and the fact that it has maintained its inventory of reasonably-priced, handmade items.
“We’ve stayed true to our purpose as a craft shop,” she said. “We have affordable items people are proud to display in their homes or give as gifts.”
Because of its homey focus and welcoming atmosphere, Anders said the store is one of the main places area residents bring their out-of-town guests. Its crafters join forces with the local Extension Office for make-and-take workshops, and demonstrators are often scheduled at the store.
“Our customers love it when they can see how an item is made,” Anders said.
Best of all is the close ties members make through years of working side by side to make their store a success, Anders said.
“We’re like a family,” she said.
More information about Dogwood Crafters is available from the Susie Ray’s 2002 book, “Dogwood Crafters ... A Success Story,” or online at www.dogwoodcrafters.com
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