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New Greencastle Wool Show set April 14-15 at fairgrounds
It’s had a number of names over the years, including the Fleece Fair, the Fiber Event and now the Greencastle Wool Show.
However, when the two-day festival of knitting, crocheting, weaving, spinning, felt and other fiber-related activities returns to the Putnam County Fairgrounds on April 14 and 15, fiber aficionados will find many of the same vendors and workshops.
Last April when the event returned for its 31st annual run, organizers made the surprise announcement that it would be the last “Fiber Event.”
This was an unwelcome surprise for Stacy Barclay and other attendees/volunteers at the event, who were not part of the decision to stop the old event.
So Barclay and others began an effort to keep the event going, albeit under a different name when they were not granted the rights.
This, the Greencastle Wool Show was born, though Barclay notes that it is about a lot more than wool.
“We wanted to highlight the fact that it was being held here in Putnam County,” Barclay said of the new name.
The recognition in the name is entirely fitting, as those outside the fiber world don’t realize the significance of the event that in the past has attracted attendees from at least two dozen states.
While who comes as consumers remains to be seen, Barclay assured the Banner Graphic that the roster of vendors is nearly unchanged, with local commitments from Greencastle, Bainbridge, Fishers and Bloomington as well as from place as far flung as Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Oklahoma and even California.
“We know there are going to be vendors, but we are worried about getting the consumers there,” Barclay said.
And while COVID-19 and the cancellation of the old event in 2020 and 2021 may have led to its demise, Barclay noted that the pandemic also made for some brand new practitioners of crocheting, knitting and other fiber skills.
“The thing we’re trying to focus on is education and reaching out to people who knit, crochet, weave, spin, etc.” Barclay said. “There are a number of people who took it up during the pandemic.”
While those people may have taken up their new crafts in isolation, Barclay emphasizes that it can be practiced in the kind of community a fiber show provides.
“You can buy online, obviously, but you aren’t touching the wool,” she said, noting that you can talk to the vendors, learn from them what particular fabrics will work best for particular projects.
Even when one vendor doesn’t have the item in question, they’ll usually holler down the row to someone who might.
“We’re usually pretty sensible about that,” Barclay said. “You may lose that sale, but you’ll gain goodwill.”
Besides the ability to purchase wool, yarn or other supplies, the show also provides a place to purchase equipment such as spinning wheels, and see such wheels at work.
There will also still be competitions in a number of categories.
Even those who aren’t interested in the craft side can still come find pretty things.
“Even if you just like finished things,” Barclay said.
Organizers have also partnered with the Putnam County Convention and Visitors Bureau in marketing the event that Barclay noted “brings a fair amount of people to our county.”
In fact, even going to larger metropolitan areas, there may not be this size of event. Barclay recalls when she was living in Florida, she attended an event in Orlando that took up a relatively small conference room.
When the Montgomery County native started looking for larger events, she discovered that there was a nice one just down the road in Putnam County.
Then when Barclay moved to Putnam County, eventually becoming managing attorney at Sutherlin, Zeiner & Barclay, she got even more involved, having volunteered for the last several years.
The event will take place in the Putnam County Fairgrounds Community Building, as well as the goat barn and under the east awning of the beef barn. Workshops will take place in Harris Hall.
The Greencastle Wool Show will run from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday, April 14 and Saturday, April 15. To learn more, including registration for workshops, visit https://greencastlewoolshow.org/.