Theta antique show benefits local charities

Walking into the Bloomington Convention Center over the weekend was like stepping into a time machine. Thirty-seven vendors filled eight rooms of the convention center with thousands of antiques -- rugs, silver, paintings, quilts, crystal, books, baby shoes, china, wooden furniture, sheet music, dresses and hats -- as part of the 43rd annual Kappa Alpha Theta antique show.\nFor many of the antique dealers, like Mary Michele of Michele's Jewelry, this year was not their first time to participate in the event. Since starting her business in 1969, Michele has traveled around the Midwest and has been involved in this particular event for over 20 years.\n"I have a lot of friends in the business," Michele said, "so it's kind of a party atmosphere when we do the show."\nThough Michele runs her business alone, this year her daughter, Karen Freeman, helped out at Theta's event.\n"Bloomington's a wonderful town to do business in," Freeman said. "We live here locally, so we know a lot of people. It's just a great location."\nMichele buys her jewelry from estates, people coming to her with family items they don't wear anymore and by traveling around and seeing what she can find. Her oldest antiques date back to the days of the Civil War, and the merchandise ranges in price from $35 to $1,500.\nTheta alumni and co-chairpersons of the event Nancy Sparks and Bonnie Sperry walked around from room to room with a cart full of candy for the customers to snack on. The ladies' hard work and networking with vendors and advertisements around Indiana paid off this weekend, Sparks said.\n"The event pretty much takes all year to plan, but it intensifies after December," Sparks said. "That's when it starts getting a little hectic."\nAlong with the extensive advertising, Sperry credits the good weather over the weekend for the great customer turnout.\n"This time last year, we knew we were going to have a snow storm which began with ice," Sperry said. "This weather was like a gift. The sunshine was wonderful."\nAlthough the final amount raised for the weekend has not yet been released, the sorority hoped it would total between $10,000 and $11,000.\nSperry said the donations will go to Theta's national philanthropy organization, Court Appointed National Advocates, as well as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Jill's House, scholarships for the students in the chapter house and the Girlfriend's Club, the breast center at the Bloomington hospital.\nOne customer, Mary Jane Hall of Bloomington, came out to the event for the first time this year looking for more crystal pieces to add to her collection. She saw an advertisement for the show in the Bloomington Herald-Times that sparked her interest.\n"I'm having a wonderful time," Hall said. "I'll definitely come back next year, too."\n-- Contact staff writer Lori Snow at A href="mailto:losnow@indiana.edu">losnow@indiana.edu.