IN THE NEWS - 2004

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PAGE 12 · THE NEWPORT PLAIN TALK, Friday, April 2, 2004

Cosby Art & Craft Opener Deemed A Success
COSBY --After a long, chilly winter folks are eager for spring to arrive. Many art & craft aficionados were happy to see an early start to this year's festival season as Treasures Of Appalachia kicked it off with their first Art & Craft Gathering of 2004 on March 12th and 13th. "It was chilly, but we had bright blue skies and sunshine for both days." Said Marie Bittinger a co-owner of Treasures, "We had a better turn-out than we had expected for so early in the season, with some vendors coming from over 100 miles away to participate in our show. That's very gratifying!" The vendors appreciated the hot coffee and coffee cake served for them in the gazebo. All commented on what a friendly, helpful bunch of people had gathered. Lunch on Saturday was sponsored by the "Hoppin Gourmet", Don Colyer of Tennessee River BBQ sauce, who shared his secret "killer baked bean" recipe and donated several bottles of his sauce for the beans, chili, and grilling the hot dogs. Those particiating in the show included: Max & Loretta Carns - Parrottsville - Basketry, horse & dog leads. Jama Davis Helton - Newport - Polymer clay collectibles. Ashley Authement - Cosby - BUTTERFLY MEADOWS - Triple scented, hand poured, beeswax candles and local photography. Ken & Georgia Kennedy - Cosby - Paintings, soap, woodworking, fabric art. Nancy Gerrick - Cosby - Decorative Bird houses. Wendy Shelton - Bybee - WENDY'S SENSUAL CANDLES - Scented jar candles.	Pat Trautman - Cosby - P & D POTTERY - wheel thrown & hand built pottery Ruth Williams - Parrottsville - BASKETS BY RUTH - Hand woven sea grass baskets Pamela Knudson - Newport - PAMELA'S LITTLE DARLIN'S - High quality, hand made Teddy bears and dolls. Terry Sanchez - Gray - SMOKY MOUNTAIN WHITTLINGS - Country rustic furniture		"Our next show," said Varena Landrum, co-owner of Treasures, "will be on April 9th and 10th , which is the weekend of Easter, so we should have a good crowd again. And we're looking forward to meeting lots of new people as well as seeing all our artisan friends again. We're also working hard on getting some live musical performers for Saturday of our upcoming shows."
	Don Colyer - Kingston - TENNESSEE RIVER BBQ SAUCE - Award winning sauces. Anne Stafford - Cosby - MAGNETIC THERAPY JEWELRY BY ANNE. Entry slips for free gifts indicated that while most of the approximately 300 visitors to the show were from Tennessee, North Carolina and Kentucky, there were a fair number from Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia as well as a few from as far away as Michigan and Wisconsin. "A good number had come to the area for the Mountain Quilt Fest in Pigeon Forge, and decided to stop by	Holloway's Country Home & Treasures of Appalachia presents the Treasures of Appalachia Art & Craft Gatherings.
This booth contained goodies from Pamela's Little Darlin's owned by Pamela Knudson.		and see us as well. And we're grateful for that." Said Doug Bittinger. Pam Knudson, owner of Pamela's Little Darlins' and maker of collector quality Teddy bears and dolls said, "One visitor to my booth said that she was very grateful to us. She loved art & craft shows and had been going through withdrawal when she saw a story about us in the Knoxville News Sentinel. She drove from Seymore to check us out. She was impressed by the quality of the items offered and would be watching for future shows."	Treasures Of Appalachia Art & Craft Gatherings are always held on the property of Holloway's Country Home and Treasures of Appalachia at 3892 Cosby Highway, (Hwy 321) in Cosby TN. The show opens at 9:00 am and runs until 5:00 pm daily. There is no admission fee and there is plenty of free parking. The gallery's web site offers full details, registration form, driving directions and an event calendar. Holloway's Country Home, known world wide for it's high quality, hand sewn quilts as well as an extensive line of fabrics and supplies for quilters, is operated by Maria Holloway. You may reach Holloway's at (423) 487-3866, 9:00 - 5:00 Mon thru Sat Treasures of Appalachia is a quality Art & Craft Gallery that offers the works of 34 local artisans. Everything in the store is locally made, and hand crafted. You may reach the store at (423) 487-3111 9:00 -5:00, Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri & Sat. Or you may contact co-owners Len and Varena Landrum at (423) 487-5448 or Doug & Marie Bittinger at (423) 623-9692 or go to www.TreasuresOfAppalachia.com

PAGE 22 · VISTING THE SMOKIES, APRIL, 2004
PAGE 9 · NEWPORT PLAIN TALK, APRIL 23, 2004

Cosby couple forges out a living
Len and Varena Landrum in their Cosby shop. You can see them during the monthly Treasures of Appalachia shows off Cosby Hwy, at Holloway's Country Home. Tucked away in the forested hills above Cosby is a little piece of heaven where a local couple makes their living forging and shaping raw steel into beautiful and useful things. Len and Varena Landrum bought their property in June of 1996. They then spent the next 4 years getting it ready so they could move from Mississippi and live and work here full time. Len started working metal early. Right after graduating from high school he went into a trade school to learn metalworking. After that he served a 4 year apprenticeship at Ingals Shipyard as a machinist. Before long he was also instructing the Machine Shop class and a high school level Metal Trades class at a local community college. "I got started doing some blacksmithing while I was working at the community college." States Landrum, "And after a year or so of making hooks and other metal pieces, I was trying to come up with something more challenging to forge. I remembered making some knives early in my career and thought it would be fun to forge out a knife or two instead of just shaping them from bar stock. Not only did it turn out to be fun, but I found that a forged blade cuts much better. That was 13 years ago, and he's still at it. He's earned his Journeyman's stamp with the American Blade Smith Association, and is working on attaining his Masters. Len and his wife Varena work together in their 1200 square foot machine shop mostly doing production work for local manufacturing companies. Although they have a pretty complete workshop - in fact they will soon be building a 900 sq. ft. addition to house some new machine tools - they don't do much in the way of repair work.	Using a metal lathe, Len Landrum creates parts for his custom forged and finished knives.
	Lan Landrum works his craft, while visitors watch him make knives. "Whenever the production work lets up enough for us to catch our breath," states Varena, "Len makes knives and I paint and make the leather sheaths for Len's knives. Making the parts for log home	companies pays the bills, but it's the more artistic things that we love to do." "We enjoy the independence of working for ourselves." Says Len, "And we like knowing that something we are making in our shop is going to help someone else build a nice strong home for themselves. Varena and I are the only two employees, so every part we make reflects directly on us. So we go the extra mile to produce a very good part. "I guess that is one of the things that is so rewarding about making knives. Knives are tools that everyone uses just about every day in some way or another. I work hard to make knives that look good, feel good in the hand, and cut really well. Most people that buy a knife from me will just add it to their collection, but some will actually use them. So I start with the best steel I know, forge the blade to shape, grind and hand finish, then use a heat treatment that will produce the	best cutting edge." "Len's knives, "adds Varena, "hold an edge for a long time and are easy to re-sharpen." Landrum also likes using natural materials for the knife handles. "Bone and antler are good, and some types of wood. The combination makes a good looking knife and a good cutting knife. I also forge Damascus for some of the fancier blades. So, any knife I make will work as a collection knife or as a knife to be used… or both!" The Landrum's knifes can be seen at their web site: www.LandrumKnives.com. Their knives, sheaths and paintings can be seen and purchased at Treasures of Appalachia, 3892 Hwy 321 in Cosby. They are happy to do custom work upon request, and can be reached at (423) 487-5448. Treasures of Appalachia is a quality Art & Craft Gallery that offers the works of 24 local artisans. Everything in the store is locally made, and hand crafted. You may reach the store at (423) 487-3111 9:00 --5:00, any day except Wednesday and Sunday. Or you may log onto www.TreasuresOfAppalachia.com

PAGE 2 · THE NEWPORT PLAIN TALK, Thursday, February 26, 2004
PAGE 3 · THE NEWPORT PLAIN TALK, Wednesday, March 3, 2004 (re-run without picture)
PAGE 23 · VISITING THE SMOKIES, April 2004

Art & Craft Series to begin in March
COSBY--Spring is approaching and summer is just around the corner. Treasures Of Appalachia and Holloway's Country Home will be celebrating the arrival of spring with the first in their series of monthly Art & Craft Gatherings hosted on Holloway's property at 3892 Cosby Hwy in Cosby TN on Friday and Saturday, March 12th and 13th from 9:00am until 5:00pm daily. "The response to last years shows was good," says Marie Bittinger, co-owner of Treasures of Appalachia, "but this year we're looking forward to a really great season. We have some wonderful ideas, and our new friends at 'Fiddlin With Music' in Newport have agreed to help line up some fantastic entertainment. Especially for our "Red, White & Bluegrass" celebration in July." We want to get folks who are looking for genuine, locally made, hand crafted arts & crafts together with the many talented artisans living	here in our region" says co-owner Varena Landrum. "We have the finest the mountains have to offer." "Our monthly Arts & Crafts Shows are open to all artists, crafters, and performers who wish to participate, as long as they're offering goods they've produced themselves." States Len Landrum, another co-owner, "We'd like to show visitors that high quality, hand crafted, locally made art work is not only available here, but plentiful." Scheduled show dates for 2004 are: Art & Craft Gathering: March 12th & 13th Art & Craft Gathering: April 9th & 10th Art & Craft Gathering: May 7th & 8th Art & Craft Gathering: June 11th & 12th Red White & Bluegrass Celebration: July 2nd & 3rd Heritage Days Celebration: Aug 27th & 28th Art & Craft Gathering: Sept. 10th & 11th Apple Pickn' Days: Oct. 1st & 2nd A Great Day In The Country: Oct 23rd All events to be held on	Holloway's property. For more information about these shows and vendor registration forms, log onto Treasures Of Appalachia's web site at http://www.TreasuresOfAppalachia.com or stop into the T.O.A. gallery located next to Holloway's. Holloway's Country Home, known world wide for it's high quality, hand sewn quilts as well as an extensive line of fabrics and supplies for quilters, is operated by Maria Holloway. You may reach Holloway's at (423) 487-3866 9:00 - 5:00 Mon thru Sat Treasures of Appalachia is a quality Art & Craft Gallery that offers the works of 24 local artisans. Everything in the store is locally made, and hand crafted. You may reach the store at (423) 487-3111 9:00 --5:00, Thur, Fri & Sat. Or you may contact co-owners Len and Varena Landrum at (423) 487-5448 or Doug & Marie Bittinger at (423) 623-9692.

Treasures Of Appalachia and Holloway's Country Home will be celebrating the arrival of Spring with the first in their series of monthly Art & Craft Gatherings.

PAGE 5 · THE NEWPORT PLAIN TALK, Thursday February 12, 2004

Family Business

PHOTO SUMBITTED
In these parts, running a family business means everyone has to pitch in and help out. Here, one of Doug & Marie Bittinger's "girls" helps make furniture parts for their woodworking business.

THE NEWPORT PLAIN TALK,

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