The Willow Glen Resident

The arts and crafts fair returns to Founders Day

Last year's hiatus may have slowed the momentum, organizers say

By John Pancharian

Remember the good old days when Founders Day included an arts and crafts fair? One could stroll down the Avenue, where the celebration's colorful sights and sounds still lit the faces of people on the street, and peruse the artful wares of dozens of vendors.

Those days are back. Responding to popular demand, the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association has returned the fair to Founders Day, incorporating it into the general celebration on Sunday rather than following it the next day as was done in years past.

Fair organizer and WGBPA manager Demetri Rizos says the fair was canceled last year due to rising costs associated with a two-day Founders Day celebration. This year vendors will line the sidewalks along Lincoln Avenue between Willow and Minnesota while other festivities go on around them.

"That avoids the added expense and business disruption of closing the streets for two days," Rizos says, adding that he expects 40 or 50 vendors.

"In the past we had more," he says, explaining that missing a year means starting over in many ways.

"September is also the biggest month for festivals in San Jose, so we're competing for vendors," Rizos says, adding that the Alameda Art and Wine Festival has drawn off some artisans.

Rizos is enthusiastic about those who are coming, however. "Most of them are local, but we do have them coming from all over the state," he says.

Willow Glen resident Maggie Johnson is one of the locals. She and her family make up the L.C. Dinsmore company--the name they've given to their mom-and-pop banner-making operation.

Johnson says she and her husband discovered the colorful outdoor banners flying over yards in New England when they visited there in 1991.

"We thought it was a really neat community thing, and a wonderful way to put our daughters through college," Johnson says. With the motto "Let's decorate the neighborhood," the Johnsons started selling banners out of their home in 1992, but they rely heavily on Founders Day to sell their wares.

"Founders Day is the only [festival] we do, because it's Willow Glen and our hearts are really in Willow Glen," says Johnson, a 30-year Glen resident. She agrees it will be like starting over this year after missing the fair in 1997, but says she looks forward to meeting all the friendly locals who come out for Founders Day.

Fellow vendor and Glen resident Nancy Silva agrees.

"The people that live in Willow Glen are the nicest, calmest people," she says. "They just love to chit-chat with people in the same neighborhood."

Silva says she sells her country jumpers--made with "whimsical, fun fabric"--at many craft shows, but was excited about the return of Willow Glen's art fair.

"This year, we're getting the arts fair going again," she says. "Whoever shows up, we'll just go from there."

Silva also appreciates the Willow Glen fair because the WGBPA does not charge vendors a percentage of their profits.

"When you've got to give up 10 or 15 percent of what you've made, that's a chunk of all your hard work," she says.

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