Gettysburg Antiquing…GARMA style“Wow…that looks old, it must be an antique.” We hear that said a lot these days, especially because of the popularity of shows such as Antiques Road Show and American Pickers. Well, here’s your chance to attend Gettysburg’s own Antiques Road Show where you can become an American Picker. More than 120 antique dealers and collectors from all over the country will converge on Gettysburg on May 18 for the 52nd annual Gettysburg Spring Outdoor Antique Show.
So what constitutes an antique? The common definition of antique is a collectible object such as a piece of furniture or work of art that has a high value because of its considerable age. The customary definition requires that an item should be at least 100 years old and in original condition (motor vehicles are an exception to the 100 year rule). So now we know what qualifies something to be an antique. Now you’re ready to go antiquing. Antiquing is the act of shopping, identifying, negotiating, or bargaining for antiques. Some great sources for antiquing are Estate Sales, Antique Districts, Auction Houses, Yard Sales and Outdoor Antique Shows like ours! However, antiquing also has a secondary definition which is the craft of making an object appear antique through distressing or using antique-looking paint applications. Often, people can get confused between handmade distressed vintage or modern items and true antiques. The last thing you want to do is find yourself paying a high amount of money for something that has little value in the antiquing industry. So what antiques might you find in downtown Gettysburg on May 18? The Gettysburg Outdoor Antique Show is a “buyers and sellers” paradise with high quality antiques and collectibles. Items range from Depression-Era glass, bottles, holiday collectibles, coins, dolls, postcards, old toys, crocks, tools, furniture, knives and much more. There are also stores in town that handle antiques year round; Union Drummer Boy (a GARMA member), The Horse Soldier, The Antique Center of Gettysburg and Rebels Roost Antiques to name a few. Don’t forget to not only shop the vendors on the streets, but also the brick and mortar shops. You never know what treasure you might find when shopping the streets of Gettysburg. That item you buy today might just become an antique you want to pass down to the next generation. If you don’t find what you’re looking for this Spring, have no worries. The Gettysburg Outdoor Antique Show is a bi-annual event occurring again in the fall. The event is always the third Saturday of May and September. Proceeds from the Antique Show help GARMA provide Christmas In Gettysburg and the Annual Tree Lighting Event held the day after Thanksgiving. For more questions about the Outdoor Antique Show visit us at www.gettysburgretailmerchants.com. ~Jennie Dillon is the owner of Artworks on York St. and Vice President of GARMA. Giving to a Good Cause“Would you like to donate to…?”, “It’s a really great cause…”, “Your donation is tax deductible…”.
It always seems that at every corner you turn, someone is asking you to donate toward something. When you donate, think about where your donation is going and how it may be utilized to its best possible means. Donating doesn’t always have to be a monetary gesture. Visit the website of the charity you wish to donate to and see if they have a “Wish List” that will guide you as to what their needs may be. Each month GARMA will be collecting for local charities as part of our First Friday, Gettysburg Style events. We encourage you to visit the website of the non-profit(s) we are supporting and see how you can help. April 5 is First Friday, Gettysburg Style and our local non-profit beneficiaries are Forever Love Rescue (a new GARMA member!) and Adams County SPCA. After visiting their websites and looking at pictures of all those furry friends, you may just decide that volunteering is the way you want to donate. However, if volunteering isn’t in your schedule, you can drop off donations for both rescues on April 5 or throughout the month of April at participating GARMA First Friday, Gettysburg Style businesses (visit www.gettysburgretailmerchants.com to see a complete list). Now that we’ve asked you to donate, let me tell you how GARMA donates back to the community starting with the Downtown Flower Project that is supported by the Gettysburg Garden Club. This will be the first year that GARMA is donating to the cost of watering and maintaining the beautiful flowered hanging baskets you will see throughout the town very soon. This is the second year that GARMA is donating a monetary contribution to help fund the expenses of the annual Gettysburg Memorial Day parade being held on May 27 at 2pm. Last, but not least GARMA starts the holiday season with the annual Gettysburg Tree Lighting Ceremony. Through donations from all over the country GARMA was able to purchase the current Christmas tree and can continue purchasing wreaths and other decorations to enhance Gettysburg’s holiday season. We are always looking for constructive ways to donate back to the community. So again, it may get tiring getting phone calls and letters asking for donations. Just remember, if you are interested in donating to any cause do some research to see where the money is going and how it’s being used. Try your best to donate local so you know that your funds, or your volunteer efforts, are supporting the Gettysburg community. In other news, GARMA would like to welcome new members: Forever Love Rescue, 39 Queen St., Total Tech Solutions, 670 Johns Ave., and Horse Tours of Gettysburg, 11 Lincoln Square. If you are interested in becoming a GARMA member visit our website and fill out and mail the membership application. And, don’t forget that GARMA gift certificates make great gifts. Visit us online to see where you can purchase and redeem your gift certificates. -Jennie Dillon is the owner of Artworks, 30 York St., and the Vice President of GARMA March GARMA ArticleThe Gettysburg Area Retail Merchants Association is getting a much needed makeover in 2019. First, we want to make sure that everyone knows what GARMA stands for, and I don’t mean from just an acronym perspective. GARMA has been a champion of local retail businesses for over 45 years. Our goal has always been to work together as an association of businesses that strengthens our reach within and beyond our community.
So, on to the makeover! The first course of action has been to create a vibrant, informative, relevant, user friendly website (www.gettysburgretailmerchants.com). Whether you’re local or from out of town, you can now check our new Calendar of Events to see what activities GARMA and its Membership are hosting or participating in. And speaking of Membership, click on the “Members” tab on our home page for a list of all GARMA members AND their locations on our interactive map. Click on a member’s name and you are automatically sent to their website! Members also now have the ability to create posts on our “Member News” page. Our next mission was to take a look at First Friday, Gettysburg Style and see how we could have a bit more fun with this already fun occasion. Traditionally, First Friday, Gettysburg Style has had a theme each month that all of our participating businesses expound upon. Retiring some of the old themes (we all know that everyone goes Back to School in August) gives way for new fun ones (Woodstock. August. 1969. Feelin’ Groovy. Just sayin’). By clicking on the “First Friday” tab on our home page you can click the LOGO of each participating business to see how they’re celebrating First Friday, Gettysburg Style. In addition to having fun, we’re focusing on “Giving Back to GettysBurg” by tying each First Friday, Gettysburg Style theme to a local Non-Profit. Shop Local. Support Local. Give Local. A few things to remember – GARMA Gift Certificates make great gifts all year round. What a great way to promote shopping our local, small businesses. Gift Certificates can be redeemed at almost all GARMA businesses and are purchasable at Artworks, 30 York St., Gettysburg Heritage Center, 297 Steinwehr Ave., and Goin’ Postal, Gettysburg Outlets. April 5 is our next First Friday, Gettysburg Style and it’s all about those four-footed critters that can eat us out of house and home…our pets! Visit our website to see what our members are doing for this fun night out. It should be a howling good time (did I really just say that?). Our Non-Profit beneficiaries will be our local pet rescues; Forever Love Rescue and Adams County SPCA. In Memoriam: We say goodbye to our friend Ron Routson who passed away on February 26. Ron worked for Kapp Advertising (The Merchandiser) for over 11 years and served on GARMA’s Board of Directors for over 7 years serving as our Membership chairperson and lastly as Vice President. If you never met Ron, you probably saw him somewhere on the streets of Gettysburg or in a local business and didn’t know it (as he liked to say “I’m the guy that looks like Cal Ripken”). Ron has touched so many people in this community by volunteering his time and energy, lending an ear or sound advice to anyone who needed. Ron was an asset to this community, our GARMA board and Membership, and to all who knew him. (Writer’s Note: Ron, I wish I had taken you up on that offer to buy me a beer. I’m sure there would have been no lack of conversation.) ~ Jennie Dillon is the owner of Artworks on York St. and Vice President of GARMA |
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