About this Episode:
If you love crafts or have an interest or family tradition in making crafts, you are going to love this episode! You’ll learn about Dogwood Crafters Cooperative featuring Brenda Anders.
In this episode, Joseph is joined by our special guest Brenda Anders, she is a true daughter of the Smokies who has lived in WNC since 1978 when her husband took a job with WCU. Not long after that, Brenda joined Dogwood Crafters, one of the most storied crafts cooperatives in the Southeast, located in historic Dillsboro, N.C. Since then Brenda has played an integral role in the success of the business –which was first formed in 1976 –serving in various key leadership positions including President and Chairman of the Board, along with heading multiple operational committees within the organization.
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SHOW NOTES
SEGMENT 1
Joseph begins by mentioning the sponsor, The Meadowlark Motel as well as smokiesadventure.com and some upcoming events. On May 13th and 14th, they’re having the Icons of Hotrodding Festival. Also May 31st -to June 4, they’ll have an event called Slingshots in the Smokies and more festivals and camps later in the summer. Joseph also reads a poem related to today’s topic and events by Marcus B. Christian called “The Craftsman.” He introduces his guest, Brenda Anders, who has lived in WNC since 1978 when her husband took a job with WCU. Not long after that, Brenda joined Dogwood Crafters, one of the most storied crafts cooperatives in the Southeast, located in historic Dillsboro, N.C. Brenda grew up in Tennessee and says that she didn’t realize how lucky she was. Sometimes she forgets to look at the mountains and realize the beauty of the environment but is always reminded when she has company in the car with her as she rides. Brenda moved to Western North Carolina when her husband got a job as the director of the Computer Center. She got involved with Dogwood Crafters after falling in love with the art there. She explains the workplace then and now with her team and how they’ve stayed successful.
SEGMENT 2
Brenda says that there is one active original member in Dogwood Crafters, who also helped get the organization started with their husband. She also mentions another crafter who recently came back, Don Wood, who now does beekeeping. Brenda explains what artists must go through when wanting to create something and be a part of Dogwood Crafters. When you are interested, she says that you would go to Dogwood and fill out an application and bring the item you want to make. A jury committee made up of anonymous crafters, look it over and make sure that it is some time that has not already been offered to make. She mentions having a coordinator for every room in the log cabin where they work and have the chance to showcase everyone’s work and sell a variety of items. Brenda also talks about using recycled items. On the Facebook Livestream, she shows us several items like a pair of mittens that were made by using a couple of different sweaters. They can make something with just about everything!
SEGMENT 3
Brenda explains how she and her team were able to acquire all 12 rooms in the log cabin which was once a motel. Everyone in the organization works very hard on keeping things in order from building to supplies, maintenance, flower boxes, and more. Dogwood Crafters also offer free classes to anyone as long as you pay for the supplies that you would be using. They also have a scholarship committee where they give money to different schools and students wanting to learn the Appalachian craft. They have different projects that they do in order to earn this money. They come up with different ideas, for example, she says that they also sell jams and jellies. As a nonprofit, they don’t have a lot of money, but the percentages that they earn comes from the crafters and their pantry. Brenda also mentions how Dogwood has been involved in the North Carolina Mountain State Fair. She also talks with Joseph about the rooms in the log cabin and how they are all themed differently.
SEGMENT 4
Brenda talks with Joseph about Mary’s Garden. Mary Nolan was a member of Dogwood Crafters for many years and when she passed away, they wanted to pay tribute to her. So they had their side yard bricked and they have a plaque with her photograph on it and it’s called Mary’s Garden. It keeps Mary with them, and Brenda says that everyone in Dogwood is like family. She also mentions supporting customers by continuing to have good quality crafts and each crafter comes up with new ideas. They also talk about Dogwood being a part of festivals. In Dillsboro, they are part of three main festivals. One of them is Front Street in July, Colorfest in October, and Luminaire which takes over the first two weekends in December. Dogwood tries to connect with its community and show people that all of its work is handmade. She mentions the different events that they do like the Easter Parade where hundreds of people join in, being a free event for families. Brenda says that her vision for this co-op and Dogwood Crafters is that they continue to recruit crafters, continue to carry on its legacy and keep it there for generations to come. Although it’s hard work and hard to get young people into crafting, she says that they do their best to show them that they can craft their own rug, socks, and much more than they think. You can find out more by searching for Dogwood Crafters on Facebook as well as their website dogwoodcrafters.com.
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:45.450 –> 00:00:56.640 Joseph McElroy: Howdy, welcome to the gateway to the smokies podcast this podcast is about America’s most visited National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains National park and the surrounding towns.
00:00:57.030 –> 00:01:06.660 Joseph McElroy: This area is filled with ancient natural beauty, a deep-storied history, and rich mountain cultures that we explore with weekly episodes.
00:01:07.110 –> 00:01:14.490 Joseph McElroy: I’m Joseph Franklyn McElroy a man of the world, but also with deep roots in these mountains my family is living in great smokies for over 200 years.
00:01:15.030 –> 00:01:27.360 Joseph McElroy: My business is in travel, but my heart is in culture today we’re gonna be talking about the dogwood crafters cooperative with Brenda Anders but first I got some messages from sponsors and some events.
00:01:29.760 –> 00:01:39.870 Joseph McElroy: imagine a place evocative of motor courts of the past, yet modern and vibrant with the “Chic Appalachian” feel. A place for adventure and for relaxation.
00:01:40.470 –> 00:01:49.050 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place where you can fish in a mountain heritage trout stream grill the catch on a fire and eat accompanied by fine wine or craft beers.
00:01:49.830 –> 00:02:02.400 Joseph McElroy: Imagine a place with old-time music and world cultural sounds. There is no other place like the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley North Carolina. Your Smoky Mountain Adventure starts with where you stay.
00:02:04.620 –> 00:02:09.540 Joseph McElroy: Another Sponsor is SmokiesAdventure.com. The smoky mountains and surrounding areas are a vacation destination for all seasons.
00:02:10.260 –> 00:02:17.070 Joseph McElroy: Some of the nation’s best hiking trails, waterfalls, outdoor adventures, and family entertainment can be found, right here.
00:02:17.580 –> 00:02:28.230 Joseph McElroy: start your adventure by using smokiesadventure.com, smokies plural adventure singular.com to explore all the wonderful features of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
00:02:28.620 –> 00:02:37.770 Joseph McElroy: trails waterfalls, Cades Cove, and more. Then check out all the awesome family attractions and entertainment you and your entire family can enjoy.
00:02:38.160 –> 00:02:48.360 Joseph McElroy: And if you’re looking for places to have a wedding or an outdoor life event or a honeymoon or romantic getaway check it out there are places that you can go to do that there’s well.
00:02:48.630 –> 00:02:56.430 Joseph McElroy: The goal of smokies adventure.com is to become a leading information portal for adventures and experiences in the great smoky mountains.
00:02:57.120 –> 00:03:06.600 Joseph McElroy: Now I mentioned some events coming up in Maggie Valley knowing we have this great festival and the May 13 and 14th for having the icons of a pop music festival.
00:03:07.020 –> 00:03:29.340 Joseph McElroy: And then, in the 1950s and 1960s hot rod and custom cars trucks and vans for cars and vehicles, all of them 1969 and then they’ll be 50s and 60s music automotive vintage vendors kids drivers food vendors judging with awards and trophies presentation it’s a family-friendly.
00:03:31.560 –> 00:03:40.680 Joseph McElroy: urging you to come on down and check it out and then on May 31 of June 4 we have slingshots in the smokies and see and know slingshots in the smokies.
00:03:41.850 –> 00:03:47.370 Joseph McElroy: is known as the super bowl for slingshot of its for those who don’t know slingshots or a sort of a.
00:03:49.200 –> 00:03:58.710 Joseph McElroy: motorcycle on three wheels, and so this will take place in the Maggie Valley festival grounds and again we’ll have all sorts of wonderful things going on.
00:04:00.510 –> 00:04:07.620 Joseph McElroy: Since we’re talking about crafts, I need to talk about July 9 and 10th on Maggie Valley festival grounds, you have the annual.
00:04:08.280 –> 00:04:24.390 Joseph McElroy: Maggie Valley arts and crafts show it’s the largest Maggie Valley largest gathering of artisans and crafters it comes to go to the seller handmade treasures artists and small the southeast attendance and there’ll be chains are demonstrations of lots of festivals.
00:04:26.010 –> 00:04:39.540 Joseph McElroy: So you can go to maggievalleyfestivalgrounds.com to find out more about all the festivals coming to Maggie Valley, which is where you can go and how you can partake in enjoying all these different things now the Meadowlark is, as announced a big.
00:04:40.710 –> 00:04:51.270 Joseph McElroy: big event coming up in August we’re going to have a Songwriters Camp and Concert with Grammy-award winning artist Jim Lauderdale and Charles Humphrey III
00:04:51.660 –> 00:05:03.690 Joseph McElroy: Along with other award-winning artists like Darren Nicholson and Balsam Range, Clay Mills, and Charles Chamberlain. it’s a two-day event of interactive songwriting instruction from world-class musicians.
00:05:04.350 –> 00:05:14.250 Joseph McElroy: a DEMO tape produced for each participant, and concerts by Songs from the Road Band on Friday night and a Barbecue dinner, and also our concert on Saturday night.
00:05:14.910 –> 00:05:21.420 Joseph McElroy: This is a unique event like no other and space will be limited to ensure individual attention is given to all participants.
00:05:21.720 –> 00:05:31.050 Joseph McElroy: the price is $675 per person including all activities and DEMO tape, two world-class concerts, and the Barbecue dinner on Saturday night.
00:05:31.470 –> 00:05:43.980 Joseph McElroy: And then their special room prize packages are offered from different kinds of places to stay to include lodging providing for Friday and Saturday night call 8289261717 for details.
00:05:44.400 –> 00:05:55.110 Joseph McElroy: And there’s also a limited amount of concert tickets available for the concerts and Friday Saturday night so check it out again and reserve your spot at 8289261717 so.
00:05:56.220 –> 00:06:08.370 Joseph McElroy: Now, you know that I like to introduce some times what’s coming up with the bed with a poem I might write your fine I found that interesting going by a guy named Marcus B. Christian written in 1970 is called the Craftsman
00:06:10.320 –> 00:06:19.650 Joseph McElroy: It goes like this, I ply with all the cunning of my art. This little thing, and with consummate care, I fashion it—so that when I depart,
00:06:20.100 –> 00:06:35.070 Joseph McElroy: Those who come after me shall find it fair And beautiful. It must be free of flaws—Pointing no laborings of weary hands; And there must be no flouting of the laws Of beauty—as the artist understands.
00:06:35.670 –> 00:06:46.530 Joseph McElroy: Through passion, yearnings infinite – yet dumb-
I left you from the depths of my own mind And gild you with my soul’s white heat to plumb, The souls of future men.
00:06:47.160 –> 00:07:02.250 Joseph McElroy: I leave behind this thing that in return, this solace gives:
“He who creates true beauty ever lives.”
wonderful poem little focused on one gender but it applies I think across the board.
00:07:03.720 –> 00:07:09.570 Joseph McElroy: So somebody has a lot about crafts and we’ve introduced today is our guest her name is Brendan Anders.
00:07:10.710 –> 00:07:19.770 Joseph McElroy: She’s a Maryville Tennessee native and then a true daughter of the smokies who’s lived in Western North Carolina since 1978.
00:07:20.490 –> 00:07:26.190 Joseph McElroy: Since then Brenda has played an integral role in the success of Dogwood Crafters Cooperative,
00:07:27.000 –> 00:07:34.440 Joseph McElroy: One of the most storied crafts cooperatives in the southeast, located in historic Dillsboro, N.C.
00:07:34.950 –> 00:07:45.690 Joseph McElroy: Brenda has served in various key leadership positions including President and Chairman of the Board, along with heading multiple operational committees within the organization.
00:07:46.260 –> 00:07:58.470 Joseph McElroy: For more than four decades Brenda’s work and leadership with Dogwood Crafters have created a template for many other artists and crafts cooperatives to follow throughout the country.
Hello Brenda, how are you doing?
00:07:59.220 –> 00:08:03.300 Brenda Anders: I’m doing just fine glad to be here and share the story of dogman crafters.
00:08:03.480 –> 00:08:09.060 Joseph McElroy: I’m glad to hear about a little learn a little bit about yourself first you grew up in Maryville Tennessee.
00:08:10.380 –> 00:08:22.170 Brenda Anders: I did, and I went to business college with my husband’s cousin and he came upon a fishing trip to visit his uncle he likes to say he used the wrong bank and got married instead.
00:08:23.550 –> 00:08:34.080 Brenda Anders: And we did get married shortly after we only had about six dates, as he went into the air force, and then we got married moved to Texas for 13 years.
00:08:34.530 –> 00:08:41.520 Joseph McElroy: Well yeah sometimes I mean, I had the opposite experience, I met married my first wife within six weeks.
00:08:43.980 –> 00:08:45.390 Joseph McElroy: didn’t last for three years, but.
00:08:46.920 –> 00:08:52.050 Joseph McElroy: I learned a lot from it so sometimes you learn lots of times you find your life mate right.
00:08:52.470 –> 00:08:52.920 Right.
00:08:53.970 –> 00:08:57.840 Joseph McElroy: So you wrote they’re having grown up in the foothills of those folks.
00:08:58.530 –> 00:09:02.760 Brenda Anders: Well, to me, I didn’t realize at the time how lucky I was.
00:09:03.270 –> 00:09:09.900 Brenda Anders: It was just a natural thing it’s just like right now, when I drive around in the mountains, sometimes I forget to look at them.
00:09:10.320 –> 00:09:12.120 Brenda Anders: Until I have company in the car with.
00:09:12.120 –> 00:09:19.980 Brenda Anders: me and they start commenting on how pretty it is, and I have to jerk myself up and check myself and look around a little bit to appreciate what I have.
00:09:20.670 –> 00:09:26.160 Joseph McElroy: Now America was a sort of a suburb of Nashville right wasn’t more suburb or more role and your.
00:09:27.180 –> 00:09:27.660 Brenda Anders: role.
00:09:27.990 –> 00:09:35.400 Joseph McElroy: yeah and so you got to do all the good home cooking and all that sort of stuff that we all familiar with, he grew up in the mountains.
00:09:36.300 –> 00:09:41.640 Brenda Anders: As the iron, my mother did all the cooking but back in those days, we had to iron.
00:09:42.330 –> 00:09:47.370 Joseph McElroy: Oh, there you go did you have an electric guard do you have to use it like the one here.
00:09:48.300 –> 00:09:49.380 Brenda Anders: I’m not quite that old.
00:09:54.630 –> 00:09:56.280 Joseph McElroy: So when did you read Maryville?
00:09:57.210 –> 00:09:59.460 Brenda Anders: And I married in 1965.
00:10:00.060 –> 00:10:00.480 Okay.
00:10:01.620 –> 00:10:02.280 Joseph McElroy: go around.
00:10:03.510 –> 00:10:06.690 Brenda Anders: He worked for champion paper cut me for just about a month.
00:10:07.710 –> 00:10:18.600 Brenda Anders: Until his school started it and then he was in school got a job at the computer Center and then he’s been in computer work ever since until he retired.
00:10:19.200 –> 00:10:23.700 Joseph McElroy: was good, so what brought you to Western North Carolina.
00:10:25.170 –> 00:10:28.800 Brenda Anders: He was it got a job as Director of the Computer Center at Western.
00:10:29.370 –> 00:10:31.080 Brenda Anders: Ah, and I followed him.
00:10:31.590 –> 00:10:33.030 Joseph McElroy: I guess you had to, right?
00:10:37.290 –> 00:10:39.690 Joseph McElroy: Did you end up in Dillsboro for that time or was.
00:10:40.770 –> 00:10:50.160 Brenda Anders: About four miles, out of a Dillsboro in a town called Sylva all the surrounding areas of Sylva and we have little communities like Webster and Dillsboro.
00:10:51.750 –> 00:11:06.930 Joseph McElroy: I love Sylva and those are there, wonderful little towns so so you got involved with the dogwood craft cooperative I saw it just a couple of years after he’s found it so you are your sort of a founder of it honestly.
00:11:07.980 –> 00:11:14.310 Brenda Anders: Now I wasn’t that lucky I wish I could have said, I was part of the 12 who got that started.
00:11:14.880 –> 00:11:25.710 Brenda Anders: But I was a member of the newcomers club index and county and we had a field trip, one day, and we went into dogwood crafters and I just fell in love with the art.
00:11:26.640 –> 00:11:41.040 Brenda Anders: There, and my question was who does the decorating here and Rosemary jar or who was President that day or that year, she says, I think you do because you’re the first one that ever mentioned that word.
00:11:42.150 –> 00:11:46.200 Brenda Anders: up to that point, the crafters had to get this stuff off of the street.
00:11:47.520 –> 00:11:48.450 Brenda Anders: legs.
00:11:49.500 –> 00:11:52.740 Brenda Anders: The plastic legs things and they were great jewelry over it.
00:11:54.240 –> 00:12:05.220 Brenda Anders: Raw the things that you put electrical wire around the big round things they drug everything they could dig it dogwood started and that.
00:12:06.270 –> 00:12:12.810 Brenda Anders: is a tribute to them, but I got there about three or four years later and I’ve been happy there ever since.
00:12:13.830 –> 00:12:17.970 Joseph McElroy: Oh, you successfully know I’m an artist myself.
00:12:19.980 –> 00:12:24.420 Joseph McElroy: you’re in a speakeasy down there at the Bellagio look around a lot of those are by my paintings.
00:12:25.800 –> 00:12:36.990 Joseph McElroy: And you know it I’ve been involved in a few artists and craft things and they don’t a lot of them have a moment in the sun, then they just disappear, so you guys are really done something.
00:12:37.890 –> 00:12:48.210 Joseph McElroy: To it intrigues me that you managed to create something this last this long list and so successful, and in fact, you’ve sort of become a model across the country for how to run.
00:12:48.870 –> 00:13:02.400 Joseph McElroy: A cooperative so so you know I look forward to this conversation find out more so, so you basically started with land and paper.
00:13:03.150 –> 00:13:11.580 Brenda Anders: Yes, a little ad that says, if you have handmade crafts and that you’d like to sell them, will you come to a meeting at the library.
00:13:12.000 –> 00:13:27.660 Brenda Anders: And 12 people came and they set up the rules and the regulations over the next little while that we still go by today and they started meeting in a House there in Dillsboro that is chocolate factory now, but they would come set up their little.
00:13:28.710 –> 00:13:40.230 Brenda Anders: TV trays and tables they had their own cash box and they sat and visited and, at the end of the day, they fold everything up and took it home pretty soon I realized that.
00:13:40.650 –> 00:13:57.750 Brenda Anders: If I took turns and helped each other like you’d be homemaking crafts, the rest of the tap so that was the word cooperative that we still go back today, because without each and every one of the members of chocolate it couldn’t operate the way it is.
00:13:58.950 –> 00:14:14.400 Brenda Anders: Basically, we have two crafters every day working the front counter a cashier and a bagger, and we have only one paid employee, no one was foolish enough to sign up to do the bookkeeping of the record-keeping of.
00:14:14.850 –> 00:14:26.400 Brenda Anders: club thousands of items that we have a dogwood that the word volunteer and everyone are this thing is the key to the success of Dogwood Crafters.
00:14:26.610 –> 00:14:27.870 Joseph McElroy: Cool. Well, we got to take a break now.
00:14:29.310 –> 00:14:39.060 Joseph McElroy: and come back we’ll talk more about how you how it works and what the insights you gained and then the how’s that actually propagated in the world.
00:14:40.260 –> 00:14:40.770 Brenda Anders: Okay.
00:16:56.790 –> 00:17:04.890 Joseph McElroy: Howdy, I’m Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the gateway to the smokies podcasts and My guest Brenda Anders.
00:17:05.910 –> 00:17:19.860 Joseph McElroy: So Brenda I know that you joined in 1978 how many original members have you had what 12 members and what do you have about 90 now, is there any original members left.
00:17:20.520 –> 00:17:29.880 Brenda Anders: We have one very active original Member her name is Patricia Calvin and she and her husband are very active and getting dogwood started, he was a lawyer.
00:17:30.420 –> 00:17:54.150 Brenda Anders: And he helped get our policies and bio all set up and for years did leather working and she paints on glass, so we have one and another crafter who has recently come back Don Wood he was helpful in getting the Co-op started and he is now a retired from the University does beekeeping.
00:17:54.960 –> 00:17:55.320 Joseph McElroy: Oh wow. You know I’m a beekeeper
00:17:58.080 –> 00:17:58.830 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah.
00:18:00.660 –> 00:18:12.330 Joseph McElroy: I did I put these in the South Bronx and actually got some recognition for that, because you know we got help the local communities do some beekeeping.
00:18:13.830 –> 00:18:15.750 Brenda Anders: Those babies when you meant to ask for.
00:18:16.170 –> 00:18:25.680 Joseph McElroy: Well, about you know, the thing is, I would create it I would enjoy it for a while and then I would train somebody in the Community, one of the Community gardens how to take it over and they take it over.
00:18:27.270 –> 00:18:39.900 Joseph McElroy: And then I create another one that now I just made now that I’m now I’m coming down there and create some beehives at the Meadowlark and or at my place and then at nine enough but.
00:18:41.520 –> 00:18:57.300 Joseph McElroy: So you know, I understand that you guys are not like a fleet right you actually your bylaws required I think for homeless originally right that all the artists must be Cherokee an art jury community and then must be the highest quality How does that work.
00:18:58.260 –> 00:19:03.810 Brenda Anders: Well, when you voice an interest you come to that word and you get an application.
00:19:05.160 –> 00:19:18.360 Brenda Anders: You fill out the application and bring one or two items that you want to make a jury committee made up of three anonymous crafters no one wants to know who they are so they can’t blame them if they’re not accepted.
00:19:18.900 –> 00:19:26.400 Brenda Anders: But they look the craft over they make sure that it’s not something already offered in dogwood and you’re in, and you can be.
00:19:26.820 –> 00:19:40.290 Brenda Anders: A 20% crafter means we take 20% of your money at the end of the month, and you promised to work 176 hours a year keeping the shop open working at the counter.
00:19:40.770 –> 00:19:54.480 Brenda Anders: Are you can join as a 40% or you might be older, you might have a real job this a lot of different complications that don’t allow you to work and we take 40% of that application.
00:19:55.470 –> 00:20:04.890 Brenda Anders: So that’s how you become a member, and then, once you’re a member you’re sucked in there to help us work to volunteer on our committees and get things done.
00:20:05.760 –> 00:20:07.410 Joseph McElroy: And why do you mean.
00:20:08.610 –> 00:20:13.650 Joseph McElroy: Why do you think that originally I mean why you know that originally, why did they decide to make it.
00:20:15.030 –> 00:20:23.580 Joseph McElroy: You know, instead of just being a sort of craft a flea market and make it into this real sort of excellent source of art.
00:20:25.170 –> 00:20:33.390 Brenda Anders: Well, we wanted to be the best that we could we have a coordinator now for every room, we have 12 rooms in this log cabin.
00:20:34.560 –> 00:20:50.220 Brenda Anders: That has used to being cannons cottages an overnight stay staying place back in the 30s we joined us with the help of our very helpful landlord three of those log cabins and then built a big room onto the back.
00:20:50.760 –> 00:21:03.630 Brenda Anders: And every room has a different theme and every room has a coordinator that comes and redecorates the room about every six weeks after every major holiday and we did not want everything lined up.
00:21:04.890 –> 00:21:23.100 Brenda Anders: Like a grocery store all the band-aids on one jail all the baskets on one shelf we decorate according to theme and color and that drugs, it gives everybody a fair chance to have their crafts highlighted in the spotlight it’s worked and it works well.
00:21:24.150 –> 00:21:30.090 Joseph McElroy: that’s great is there any restrictions on the materials or what can be displayed they’re.
00:21:31.170 –> 00:21:32.040 Brenda Anders: Not so far.
00:21:32.190 –> 00:21:32.520 yeah.
00:21:36.840 –> 00:21:39.210 Joseph McElroy: Well, you said there might be room for art, you know what I do.
00:21:42.030 –> 00:21:44.490 Brenda Anders: In the first place it’s too big you’ll have you’d have.
00:21:44.550 –> 00:21:46.890 Brenda Anders: To do some smaller to get into our lives.
00:21:48.630 –> 00:21:49.620 Joseph McElroy: A little flower vase.
00:21:51.360 –> 00:21:54.750 Joseph McElroy: But I’m saying you have a Christmas shop right.
00:21:55.830 –> 00:21:56.280 Joseph McElroy: yeah your.
00:21:56.910 –> 00:21:58.650 Joseph McElroy: Christmas selection.
00:21:58.890 –> 00:22:10.470 Brenda Anders: Yes, we have a room that is called the Christmas room and we sell more Christmas items throughout the year, than we actually do Christmas, because during Christmas people mostly look for gifts.
00:22:11.160 –> 00:22:30.780 Brenda Anders: What what I like about dogwood is working behind the counter and the door opens and somebody walks in, and I said oh you’re still here and I said oh you’ve been here before, and he says, my parents, dragged me in here as a child and then during dragging my children in
00:22:31.740 –> 00:22:41.820 Brenda Anders: Where is the toy room now that’s it usually it’s the same place so it’s good that children remember and come back to us.
00:22:42.480 –> 00:22:56.850 Joseph McElroy: Oh yeah yeah that’s part of the Meadowlark charm too we had people that had honeymoons in the 60s and they bring their children back and their grandchildren back and they’ll be coming back for you know our whole lives it’s kind of Nice.
00:22:58.500 –> 00:23:08.460 Joseph McElroy: So I understand that you guys take a great deal of pride and using a lot of recycled products very hard to just hold them off the handle of a cane or something like that.
00:23:08.820 –> 00:23:19.110 Brenda Anders: We do like this, this pair of mittens are made out of old sweaters and there are about five or six different sweaters here and there, NASA morn and.
00:23:20.100 –> 00:23:32.820 Brenda Anders: This is not really a recycled item but this little Christmas ornament it’s a pine Cone it’s been run over years and years and it’s really flat and it’s called a roadkill Santa.
00:23:34.740 –> 00:23:44.340 Brenda Anders: And we have a man who recycles concrete nails and missionary nails and he makes this cute little reindeer we recycle.
00:23:45.330 –> 00:24:07.710 Brenda Anders: lot boat doorknobs just a lot of things, and this day in town when people are cleaning out their parent’s house we get a lot of items donated to us fabric yarn and everything and we share those and then pass them on to other crafters and things, so we have about 17 items
00:24:08.730 –> 00:24:13.260 Brenda Anders: Different types of items using recycled material wow.
00:24:13.350 –> 00:24:19.920 Joseph McElroy: Do you have like a little warehouse of recycled material that artists can come to find for them.
00:24:20.190 –> 00:24:29.730 Brenda Anders: We have a very small office when the public brings things to us, we put it in their free atoms somebody might say.
00:24:30.330 –> 00:24:36.840 Brenda Anders: Even a half a bushel basket of light bulbs and bring them in and say we don’t know why we save these, but here you are.
00:24:37.230 –> 00:24:52.560 Brenda Anders: Because we, this is a shop and we say that you, you make things out of lot books so it’s a pass-along thing our customers and the public helps us but recycle we collect liquor bottles from restaurants that.
00:24:53.190 –> 00:24:53.670 Joseph McElroy: For you.
00:24:55.650 –> 00:24:56.700 Joseph McElroy: So you say.
00:24:58.230 –> 00:24:58.590 Brenda Anders: well.
00:24:59.310 –> 00:25:06.390 Brenda Anders: they’re painted with alcohol eighth and little bitty lots put them in them and they make that real beautiful nightlife so.
00:25:07.530 –> 00:25:12.660 Brenda Anders: We can make something out of just about everything, our crafters are very, very smart.
00:25:13.950 –> 00:25:20.250 Joseph McElroy: that’s cool are most of your Members from the area, how far spread is your membership.
00:25:20.970 –> 00:25:29.310 Brenda Anders: Since everyone is in charge of their own inventory and when you join and you’re trained to be a dogwood crafter you’re trying to about.
00:25:29.760 –> 00:25:43.800 Brenda Anders: How the shop is laid out and when you come the next time you put your own crafts out, knowing that you can move some another crafter item over a little bit, but you can’t just throw it to the side or move it to the next room so.
00:25:46.200 –> 00:25:49.380 Brenda Anders: We learned to do that now I forgot your question.
00:25:49.650 –> 00:25:57.510 Joseph McElroy: Of course, it was how big of an area or you remember part of are they like, I mean, how do they live, just to build for the little.
00:25:57.990 –> 00:26:04.950 Brenda Anders: Oh yes, I’m sorry, they have to live within 175 miles.
00:26:06.210 –> 00:26:17.610 Brenda Anders: Of the shop in Hillsboro because we require them to take an active part you can’t just come and drop your things off and that’s the last, we see it, for a year.
00:26:18.780 –> 00:26:26.280 Brenda Anders: If you’re not able to come and work, we require you to come and do other things like donating money for cookies far luminary are.
00:26:27.420 –> 00:26:34.050 Brenda Anders: We make sure that you do something I just a little bit extra because you’re part of the volunteer organization.
00:26:34.440 –> 00:26:42.690 Joseph McElroy: Right, so that means you get, mind you might get people from my bills coming from Cherokee from Asheville your way.
00:26:44.400 –> 00:26:44.820 Brenda Anders: Yes.
00:26:45.150 –> 00:26:45.630 Brenda Anders: Very good.
00:26:46.050 –> 00:26:49.200 Joseph McElroy: As a good diversity to as well as your charity or as.
00:26:50.310 –> 00:27:06.210 Brenda Anders: Well, your you mentioned Cherokee we have Joseph red cloud who cars that lady train whistles and things we don’t have near enough of these things, but you cannot make a crafter craft unless they’re in the right mind.
00:27:06.690 –> 00:27:12.150 Brenda Anders: right but local craft local crafters is what we like recently we’ve had.
00:27:13.200 –> 00:27:18.450 Brenda Anders: A little lady join Alva Houston, and this is her hickory nut doll.
00:27:18.720 –> 00:27:20.190 Brenda Anders: You know, want to hickory night is.
00:27:20.580 –> 00:27:23.040 Brenda Anders: yeah okay her face.
00:27:23.910 –> 00:27:33.600 Brenda Anders: From hickory net and it’s an everything is here is made from her legs from a pipe cleaner covered and hose right up to the little quilt that she’s making.
00:27:33.990 –> 00:27:50.070 Brenda Anders: And that was very good fun, for us, and we have a husband and wife team that makes baskets and canes chairs, this is called the Blue Ridge basket a very sturdy basket with a wooden bottle and bottom and.
00:27:50.730 –> 00:28:06.420 Brenda Anders: She designed that in Chicago at the Blueridge basket and one of our most popular things for people to watch when we’re demonstrating is this braided rug and the children come in and they say oh look that lady’s making a carpet.
00:28:07.020 –> 00:28:11.490 Brenda Anders: You know, we love for the kids to see us ironing.
00:28:12.540 –> 00:28:23.760 Brenda Anders: cutting out things seeing a sewing machine and seeing things that are not exposed to now, so I thought that was very funny one the man says look she’s making carpet.
00:28:25.110 –> 00:28:30.660 Brenda Anders: crafter to make socks hats, we just have an abundance of different items.
00:28:31.290 –> 00:28:46.680 Joseph McElroy: Well, you know that there’s a lot of people that don’t you don’t understand our warcraft and they just deal with it on the superficial level which is you know that’s okay, too, but you know I always like to find people in know also the beauty inherent value of what people create.
00:28:47.520 –> 00:28:49.800 Brenda Anders: Like to be proud of the time.
00:28:49.830 –> 00:29:08.850 Brenda Anders: I went to my girlfriend’s house and her mother and aunt had a bad full of quilts and pillows and I said, what can you do with these well we just make them like nobody’s going to want them, but this, so I talked him into joining and those sisters were two of the most popular.
00:29:09.900 –> 00:29:25.350 Brenda Anders: counter workers that there was an in the shop and they sold the whole bed, full of pillows and blankets and at that time, the government wasn’t involved, and we could sell our homemade jams and jellies.
00:29:26.010 –> 00:29:27.360 Brenda Anders: Well, Miss Verily.
00:29:28.380 –> 00:29:37.230 Brenda Anders: Would not cus, no matter what, so there was a man standing and looking at her Delhi and he said this verily coke must be one hell of a cook.
00:29:39.420 –> 00:29:44.190 Brenda Anders: The expression on her face was something that I’ll never forget it’s such pride.
00:29:44.640 –> 00:30:01.740 Brenda Anders: And, seeing that the people who came in and bought something that they created I’m a firm believer that there is gold in these mountains and it’s up to us to find those people and sell what is so rich in the past that alone on things that are handmade.
00:30:02.280 –> 00:30:07.110 Brenda Anders: Because it’s very hard to keep people interested in handmade crafts.
00:30:07.380 –> 00:30:18.750 Joseph McElroy: yeah well, we have to take a break now all right, well, we come back we’ll talk more about the nature of handmade crafts and further what you guys are doing in Dillsboro.
00:32:26.220 –> 00:32:43.200 Joseph McElroy: Howdy, this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with a Gateway to the Smokies Podcasts and my guest Brenda Anders, so Brenda you mentioned earlier about a 12 room log building I guess it was formerly cabins and motel, it was a tourist motel.
00:32:43.860 –> 00:32:45.900 Brenda Anders: yeah yes I’m not cannons cottage.
00:32:47.100 –> 00:32:48.000 Brenda Anders: belong to the.
00:32:48.030 –> 00:33:00.690 Brenda Anders: a family who had become our landlord for all these years, Mr. Wade Wilson, and his wife Becky and like I said, we have, first in the little house one street over and.
00:33:01.230 –> 00:33:22.500 Brenda Anders: He loves dogwood and the concept of having bills for becoming craft capital, so he asked us if we’d like to move over there, pretty soon we expanded and got the next cabin joined together it end up, we took three cabins and we’re still in and that today and.
00:33:24.900 –> 00:33:26.370 Joseph McElroy: The rest of the campus still runs.
00:33:28.140 –> 00:33:29.490 Brenda Anders: No. Without the hall, we have.
00:33:30.660 –> 00:33:31.230 Joseph McElroy: just gone in.
00:33:33.180 –> 00:33:36.090 Brenda Anders: a while back he met me on the street, and he says.
00:33:37.380 –> 00:33:46.200 Brenda Anders: I want to sell your dog crafters and I said but it’s family-owned property how are you going to do that he says, I want it done.
00:33:47.130 –> 00:34:12.480 Brenda Anders: And so, he named his price $350,000 we went to work, having garage sales we learn how to ask for grants and we got it down to a word we only owed $100,000 and our bank Suntrust bank loans are little craft cooperatives $100,000 and within seven years we had our building paid for.
00:34:13.110 –> 00:34:13.320 that’s fabulous, that’s fabulous!
00:34:15.060 –> 00:34:21.240 Joseph McElroy: You guys take care of everything volunteers do everything building flower boxes main interest really sort of.
00:34:21.240 –> 00:34:28.290 Brenda Anders: Special, that is true that’s why I say I’ve been everything from the groundskeeper right on it, because.
00:34:29.220 –> 00:34:36.570 Brenda Anders: We do have grounds that we have to keep and like you said, the flower boxes, as someone orders all of our supplies.
00:34:37.200 –> 00:34:46.050 Brenda Anders: Another lady is in charge of all of our classes and we offer free classes to anyone who would like to come, they only have to pay for the supplies.
00:34:46.740 –> 00:34:56.520 Brenda Anders: That they use during that we have a scholarship committee we give them a lot of money to John Campbell Haywood Tech Southwestern.
00:34:57.060 –> 00:35:06.720 Brenda Anders: To students wanting to learn and the Appalachian craft and so uh we have different projects, in order to earn money for that craft.
00:35:07.230 –> 00:35:16.650 Brenda Anders: And of course, we love to advertise and we have one project that we do every year for special expensive advertising, and that is, we sell.
00:35:17.130 –> 00:35:31.320 Brenda Anders: quilt tickets for a raffle quilt and our craft or one of our oldest crafters Laurie Walter who lives in wine soul, has made those quilts for the last five or six years we used to come together as a group, and make that but he says.
00:35:32.400 –> 00:35:39.450 Brenda Anders: I don’t understand it, but he says, the women talk too much and if I would send them home he’d make the damn quilts itself.
00:35:42.060 –> 00:35:51.810 Brenda Anders: So that’s what he’s done and we sell raffle tickets all year long so he can, so we can have special advertising the.
00:35:52.890 –> 00:36:00.660 Brenda Anders: We come up with different ideas such as that to make money but makes me the shop is run by ours.
00:36:02.250 –> 00:36:06.720 Brenda Anders: percentages from our crafters and we also sell jams and jellies.
00:36:09.510 –> 00:36:10.740 Joseph McElroy: Most of the money comes from.
00:36:10.890 –> 00:36:12.810 Joseph McElroy: Yes, so.
00:36:13.350 –> 00:36:14.340 Brenda Anders: As a non profit.
00:36:14.400 –> 00:36:16.530 Brenda Anders: we’re not supposed to have a whole lot of money.
00:36:16.800 –> 00:36:18.690 Brenda Anders: So we don’t.
00:36:19.200 –> 00:36:25.170 Brenda Anders: But we needed more so we needed those the money came from jam and jelly so we have a crafter.
00:36:25.710 –> 00:36:33.600 Brenda Anders: A Joan Marston who has volunteered and she orders are jams and jellies, we looked all over the country and we found a little shop and tiger Georgia.
00:36:33.960 –> 00:36:46.050 Brenda Anders: still makes her jellies and little for four-gallon pots so it’s as close to homemade is, as we can get and when the man walks in the door, they just go straight to across the hall to our pantry and start.
00:36:46.530 –> 00:36:55.230 Brenda Anders: buying the jelly and the Barbecue sauces and things like that, without the money that we earn from our jams and jellies, it would be hard for us.
00:36:56.250 –> 00:36:59.130 Brenda Anders: To make our quota of expenses.
00:36:59.880 –> 00:37:00.600 Joseph McElroy: Now I hear.
00:37:01.620 –> 00:37:05.700 Joseph McElroy: You so you sell cookbooks and that you have begun writing those Is that true.
00:37:06.840 –> 00:37:17.460 Brenda Anders: here’s the cookbook one of my favorite simply because of the color we’ve had five cookbooks and I think we, we have, four now, that are in print.
00:37:18.000 –> 00:37:35.310 Brenda Anders: I did not write them at all, but I do have recipes in them our customers have recipes on our different crafters have recipes and cookbooks sales are we’ve sold thousands of cookbooks and because of the cookbooks we have.
00:37:36.780 –> 00:37:44.100 Brenda Anders: Well it’s a whole story, I could talk for another hour and how we got to this, but we were on Carolina kitchen.
00:37:45.570 –> 00:37:57.630 Brenda Anders: On WLOS TV every day, they have a five-minute segment of recipes and cookies so I was privileged to go over there and I did that way back in the.
00:37:58.830 –> 00:38:05.340 Brenda Anders: I’ve done it for about 20 years, of course, the code would put a stop to that for right now but I’m trying to figure out a way how.
00:38:06.390 –> 00:38:08.940 Brenda Anders: I don’t want them to come and gentlemen, my house.
00:38:10.590 –> 00:38:12.120 Brenda Anders: That would require housekeeping.
00:38:12.150 –> 00:38:15.090 Joseph McElroy: detail now, oh no you’re an expert at zoom just do it.
00:38:16.470 –> 00:38:20.430 Brenda Anders: Oh I’m at your friend’s place doing this.
00:38:21.630 –> 00:38:22.710 Brenda Anders: On a flip phone.
00:38:24.390 –> 00:38:26.910 Joseph McElroy: Well, you did a zoom on a flip phone.
00:38:27.360 –> 00:38:28.500 Brenda Anders: No, no, no I have a flip phone.
00:38:32.160 –> 00:38:41.400 Joseph McElroy: By my father still on a flip phone too so yeah you know it’s funny that they’re now making smartphones to look like and flip like a flip phone.
00:38:42.660 –> 00:38:45.630 Joseph McElroy: gen Z loves the concept of the flip phone.
00:38:45.960 –> 00:38:46.950 Joseph McElroy: Not knowing that.
00:38:48.000 –> 00:38:49.470 Joseph McElroy: That we had that 30 years ago.
00:38:50.340 –> 00:39:03.030 Joseph McElroy: yeah right yeah so, but so so you guys do that’s really nice do all this promotion, with the cooking it’s really you know we’re wanting to do some interesting mountain cooking
00:39:03.870 –> 00:39:12.120 Joseph McElroy: recipes for any restaurant come in the Meadowlark so I definitely want to see your cookbook to see if we can find some things that might be interesting for that.
00:39:14.610 –> 00:39:14.940 Joseph McElroy: and
00:39:16.170 –> 00:39:26.760 Brenda Anders: That over crafters are good cooks and we have many recipes in our fast cookbooks that come from our mothers and grandmothers so we’ll help you out on that.
00:39:28.290 –> 00:39:29.040 Joseph McElroy: So tell me.
00:39:30.390 –> 00:39:38.610 Joseph McElroy: How you know I just moved to Asheville so I know you have a moment in the mountain seekers it’s a national it’s a pretty nice event yes.
00:39:38.640 –> 00:39:43.920 Brenda Anders: dogwood has gone to the North Carolina mountain state fair since it began.
00:39:45.330 –> 00:39:58.260 Brenda Anders: I’m not good at naming dates, but about 27 years and we started out, we had loose on the dirt there in the arena, and now we have a wonderful new building built by.
00:40:00.690 –> 00:40:10.140 Brenda Anders: The North Carolina folks that they in the regulator’s from Raleigh and about four or five years ago dogwood was asked to take over the.
00:40:10.860 –> 00:40:27.540 Brenda Anders: historic heritage crafters there, which was a real privilege for us and we are in constant search of heritage crafters and we have so much fun working 13 days 10 days 13 hours a day.
00:40:28.980 –> 00:40:34.830 Brenda Anders: selling and meeting the folks and introducing them to traditional mountain crafts.
00:40:35.220 –> 00:40:36.810 Joseph McElroy: And when is that usually held
00:40:38.130 –> 00:40:42.060 Brenda Anders: It starts Thursday after Labor day and for the next 10 days.
00:40:43.470 –> 00:40:44.970 Brenda Anders: I expect you to be coming there.
00:40:45.330 –> 00:40:47.430 Joseph McElroy: I will be coming there we live right there.
00:40:50.070 –> 00:40:56.070 Joseph McElroy: I got a balloon and off I’m on my second rodeo and I got three and a half-year-old twins
00:40:57.150 –> 00:41:03.840 Joseph McElroy: So so I’ll be bringing them to show them all sorts of mountain culture, I think they’ll get a kick out that I look forward to.
00:41:05.580 –> 00:41:16.350 Brenda Anders: they’ll love it, they have the last birthing of the cows, then calves and pig races and but don’t forget to bring them to Virginia been building and say that crafters.
00:41:17.760 –> 00:41:29.910 Joseph McElroy: So you, you mentioned, going back to you know I love Cabin right, so what I wanted to ask about that he said the rooms were thinking about doing things, what are the themes of your rooms?
00:41:30.540 –> 00:41:37.560 Brenda Anders: Well, as you enter the room it’s the main room and we live near Eastern we have that decorated for Easter.
00:41:38.250 –> 00:41:46.590 Brenda Anders: mother’s day father’s day and, as you enter then go to the right, we have the lodge a lot of people who come and visit us want.
00:41:47.580 –> 00:42:08.070 Brenda Anders: To decorate their lodge so we have that than around the fireplace we have our Christmas room and then into the next room is our children’s and toy room, we have our pantry with jams and jellies, we have a room that has handmade soap pillows and.
00:42:09.510 –> 00:42:18.510 Brenda Anders: Some jewelry items and things, then we have the traditional large room, which has the baskets brand new drugs, and things like that.
00:42:19.080 –> 00:42:27.570 Brenda Anders: Then we have the bouquet of handmade hats and gloves and dresses and aprons and then we have a kitchen, which has.
00:42:28.170 –> 00:42:47.520 Brenda Anders: kitchen items handmade kitchen items and then you’re not going to find stainless steel spoons or anything everything in our shop is handmade, then the big room that we built on to the cabins out to the back it’s called the gallery, and we call it that, because.
00:42:48.600 –> 00:42:50.610 Brenda Anders: It has lots of walls that.
00:42:51.810 –> 00:43:04.290 Brenda Anders: We can hang photographs and original paintings and prints and things like that, but we did have to put tables and shells in there because we have to have room for crafts.
00:43:05.760 –> 00:43:17.520 Joseph McElroy: that’s fabulous well, we got to take one last break here we’ll come back we’ll talk a little bit about you know other things going on and how people find out of that all right.
00:43:17.700 –> 00:43:18.210 Okay.
00:45:21.630 –> 00:45:29.970 Joseph McElroy: Howdy, this is Joseph Franklyn McElroy back with the Podcast Gateway to the Smokies with my guest Brenda Anders so Brenda.
00:45:30.990 –> 00:45:37.500 Joseph McElroy: I read that you added a new feature to the Co-op and that’s Mary’s Garden, what does that how did it come about.
00:45:39.000 –> 00:45:51.900 Brenda Anders: Mary Nolan was a member of dogwood for many, many years, and when she passed away, we wanted to pay tribute to her in a special way, so we had our side yard brick.
00:45:52.680 –> 00:45:57.180 Brenda Anders: And we have a black with her photograph on it, and everything is just called Mary’s garden.
00:45:57.720 –> 00:46:11.130 Brenda Anders: And we’re a firm believer at the dogwood that if you make the men comfortable sitting out on a patio with a good comfortable bench daily deal long while you’re in the shot buying things so mary’s garden has.
00:46:12.330 –> 00:46:25.560 Brenda Anders: It keeps Mary with us, she was very important to us as dogwood every Member when you become a member of a dog and you become a member of dogwood your family when you’re sick we help you.
00:46:25.950 –> 00:46:45.420 Brenda Anders: When when you have a death in the family, we help you and you are as important there’s no one there are people like me, have a good mouth and can talk about dogwood and things, but each and every Member of dogwood makes it a volunteer cooperative shop.
00:46:46.620 –> 00:46:47.460 Joseph McElroy: So.
00:46:49.080 –> 00:46:57.570 Joseph McElroy: it’s obviously real dedication to your Members, but I also feel like the last this long your real dedication to your customers, how do you support them?
00:46:58.710 –> 00:47:23.970 Brenda Anders: We support them by continuing to have good quality crafts, we try each of our crafters comes up with new ideas and our longtime customers notice when they come in, they say Oh well, this is new and every item has a tag on it and that crafters name is on the tech, so they know that.
00:47:25.410 –> 00:47:36.870 Brenda Anders: Geneva has a new chair, or that Judy Horn has some new gourds or they identify by name, not just a number on the tag so.
00:47:38.340 –> 00:47:48.720 Brenda Anders: We try to support them by having new things and staying open it’s really hard to stay open as a business now and it’s a privilege to say that we.
00:47:49.080 –> 00:47:59.700 Brenda Anders: have made this happen for as many years, as we have when we first started well not when we first started, but about 20 years into it handmade in America became very popular.
00:48:00.420 –> 00:48:12.480 Brenda Anders: And they asked us to help other craft cooperatives get started so Mary and I would take these trips to different towns all around and.
00:48:13.500 –> 00:48:24.300 Brenda Anders: We would talk to them about how we got started and what we did, and one of our Members Susie Ray wrote a book dogwood crafters our first 25 years.
00:48:24.840 –> 00:48:39.480 Brenda Anders: And in that book, it tells exactly how we got started our recommendations of how a craft cooperative works, and you can take that look, and you can find a good location in your own town, and you can have your own doctor crafters cooperatives.
00:48:40.260 –> 00:48:47.280 Joseph McElroy: fabulous that’s fabulous and you know, in your own town, but you go around the festivals as well.
00:48:48.450 –> 00:48:51.210 Joseph McElroy: Yes, a big holiday, can you tell me about those.
00:48:52.260 –> 00:48:52.950 Brenda Anders: Dillsboro
00:48:54.270 –> 00:49:04.470 Brenda Anders: has three main festivals, we have a front street in July color fest in October, and our luminary, which is the first two full weekends in
00:49:05.310 –> 00:49:24.810 Brenda Anders: December, and that is where the streets are all by candles and white bags to thousands and thousands of fit and the shops offer refreshments and when we can get the horses to work there’s horse-drawn buggy rides and everything and.
00:49:26.610 –> 00:49:36.840 Brenda Anders: While the train comes to Dillsboro we like to have demonstrations, so the spring fling and fall fling has started and that’s just on.
00:49:37.320 –> 00:49:49.200 Brenda Anders: Certain Saturdays I can’t remember the dates, right now, but we have crafters and in the front of each shop we don’t cross the streets off for those things but.
00:49:50.160 –> 00:50:07.590 Brenda Anders: Again we’re trying to let people say that hey things are handmade and we have several good shops in town that, of course, they don’t all carry handmade things but they’re good quality shops that are restaurants can be beaten in Dillsboro
00:50:08.370 –> 00:50:09.630 Joseph McElroy:Dillsboro
00:50:11.250 –> 00:50:13.380 Joseph McElroy: has nice restaurants there Okay, yes.
00:50:14.130 –> 00:50:19.770 Joseph McElroy: yeah I can’t speak more highly of it and you gotta you have a brewery there now to innovation.
00:50:20.880 –> 00:50:22.050 Joseph McElroy: Innovation right brewery.
00:50:22.350 –> 00:50:22.770 Yes.
00:50:24.000 –> 00:50:29.790 Joseph McElroy: it’s good time to visit, then people should visit and then go to the go-to coop and buy some crafts would be a.
00:50:29.790 –> 00:50:30.030 Brenda Anders: Great.
00:50:30.570 –> 00:50:31.830 Joseph McElroy: A great day trip.
00:50:32.040 –> 00:50:33.480 Joseph McElroy: And a fun thing that we have.
00:50:34.710 –> 00:50:47.880 Brenda Anders: A fun thing that we have is the Easter parade and that got started 37 years ago when several shops decided well we’ll just have our own parade, and so they put on funny hats and they marched around town.
00:50:48.150 –> 00:50:56.520 Brenda Anders: Oh now, we continue to have that and hundreds of people come our state magazine came and interviewed and stayed all day.
00:50:56.520 –> 00:51:07.590 Brenda Anders: And took pictures and it’s a free event for families and it’s always the Saturday before Easter this year, we had a goat come.
00:51:09.030 –> 00:51:17.910 Brenda Anders: Last year, oh, and we have a cat that has been coming up for five years, her name is a bonus, and she walks around on the leash last year at a chicken come.
00:51:18.330 –> 00:51:27.690 Brenda Anders: So it’s always fun to see who shows up and watch shows up that it’s a good Dillsboro is a walkabout town it’s too long blocks.
00:51:28.680 –> 00:51:40.320 Brenda Anders: front and back street and that, where you can park your car and go in and out all these shops and stop to eat and have a really good day that away from the maddening crowds.
00:51:40.950 –> 00:51:43.140 Joseph McElroy: So what’s the future for the Coop.
00:51:44.910 –> 00:51:45.660 Joseph McElroy: what’s your vision?
00:51:46.770 –> 00:52:03.720 Brenda Anders: My vision is that we can continue to recruit crafters to carry on dogwood crafters as it has been for the last since 76 and keep it there for generations to come it’s hard work.
00:52:05.100 –> 00:52:15.510 Brenda Anders: Getting younger people to want to make a craft that’s why we have to demonstrate and show that you can make carpet and you can make your own socks and crochet your own hat and.
00:52:16.230 –> 00:52:24.540 Brenda Anders: Dollies I love Dollies I can have a lot of deaths, but I dare say that a lot of people don’t know what a dollies is
00:52:25.260 –> 00:52:25.620 Brenda Anders: and
00:52:26.460 –> 00:52:28.080 Brenda Anders: We just want to keep that alive.
00:52:28.500 –> 00:52:38.700 Brenda Anders: And if we can do that the dog will be there for another 25 or 75 years I won’t be meaning for crafters won’t be but dogwood will be there.
00:52:39.120 –> 00:52:45.330 Joseph McElroy: For you on the next generation that’s important So how do people find out more about you.
00:52:46.410 –> 00:52:54.780 Brenda Anders: Well, Facebook or dogwood crafters are on Facebook, we have a website dogwoodcrafters.com.
00:52:57.810 –> 00:53:12.330 Brenda Anders: And we still are old fashion and have brochures and some of the welcome centers and things like that, but I think, where people can just Google it and find us in Dillsboro.
00:53:12.870 –> 00:53:18.630 Joseph McElroy: Well, I invite you to bring your quilt raffle tickets over the Meadowlark and try to sell some for it.
00:53:19.020 –> 00:53:20.280 Joseph McElroy: Okay, and.
00:53:21.180 –> 00:53:22.140 Brenda Anders: we’re very lucky.
00:53:22.290 –> 00:53:30.660 Brenda Anders: Where we’re located we’re on how by 441 at the red light, there were three hours from Charlotte three hours from Atlanta three hours from.
00:53:32.520 –> 00:53:42.420 Brenda Anders: major hubs one hour from Asheville so if you’re wanting to go to Cherokee stop 14 miles before you get to Cherokee and you’ll find dogwood crafters.
00:53:42.540 –> 00:53:43.710 Joseph McElroy: And of course, you’re pretty close to.
00:53:45.810 –> 00:53:50.280 Joseph McElroy: Maggie Valley you know I hope you guys come to our craft and arts and crafts show.
00:53:51.960 –> 00:53:56.850 Joseph McElroy: All right, good well it’s been a pleasure, having you on the show today Thank you so much.
00:53:58.440 –> 00:54:08.730 Joseph McElroy: I’ve learned a lot it’s nice to know about you that stimulates things in my brain, you know I’m involved in the arts and crafts, so I definitely come and check you out and see what’s going on.
00:54:09.960 –> 00:54:17.760 Joseph McElroy: So thank you again, this is the gateway to the smokies podcast you can find out more about us at.
00:54:20.520 –> 00:54:27.540 Joseph McElroy: Talkradio. NYC, which is a network of live podcasts about what happened there every day.
00:54:28.590 –> 00:54:42.330 Joseph McElroy: During every day of the week, where you’ll find out information that’s interesting they talk about small business and talk about you have self help it talks about cats, dogs and animals and all sorts of different things.
00:54:43.800 –> 00:54:44.250 Joseph McElroy: So.
00:54:47.190 –> 00:54:48.810 Joseph McElroy: it’s a pleasure to have you here.
00:54:49.860 –> 00:54:59.670 Joseph McElroy: And and have you should listen to the show, so I encourage you to go see and listen to other podcasts on the network, I.
00:55:00.780 –> 00:55:08.610 Joseph McElroy: This specific show has a Facebook page facebook.com/gatewaytothesmokiespodcast where you find the.
00:55:08.940 –> 00:55:15.870 Joseph McElroy: The local live broadcasts and everything else we’re also smokiesadventure.com there’s a link that shows all the previous.
00:55:16.560 –> 00:55:25.230 Joseph McElroy: podcasts and transcripts, as well as information that’s useful my mutual to us, was events know things going on and I.
00:55:26.040 –> 00:55:31.080 Joseph McElroy: I have another podcast on this network that can wise content creates wealth which is about.
00:55:31.590 –> 00:55:39.540 Joseph McElroy: Using AI and behavioral science to help marketing your business So if you get a chance to look at look for that podcast on Fridays from.
00:55:40.170 –> 00:55:56.100 Joseph McElroy: From noon to one, and this podcast is on Tuesdays from six to seven every week and it’s been a pleasure letting you into our world here, and hopefully, you’ll come to visit us and I’ll talk to you next week.
