* This article appeared in The Parkersburg News on Monday, August 6, 2007.

Thousands come to town for Fenton fest

By BRAD BAUER, Special to The News

MARIETTA — Thousands of Fenton Art vendors and collectors flocked to the Mid-Ohio Valley this past weekend for the annual glassmaking festival and art glass flea market, but vendors gave mixed reviews on their sales totals.

Tables filled with Fenton Art Glass in all shapes, sizes and colors lined the Washington County Fairgrounds over the weekend. For vendor Joanna Dabrowski, of Rochester Hills, Mich., this was a “make it or break it” event for her specialty glass business.

“I came down here with a whole lot of merchandise and a whole lot of hope,” she said. “Unfortunately I didn’t sell nearly what I had hoped for. And what I did sell, I sold at discount prices.”

Dabrowski said she has only been selling Fenton for about a year, although she has been a collector for several years.

“I don’t know if it was because of what is happening with Fenton and people are just going to hold on to what they’ve got and see what happens or what. But it just wasn’t a good weekend for us,” she said.

Fenton President George Fenton announced in June the company was formulating a restructuring plan in response to economic difficulties, citing rising costs and foreign competition. The company could even be sold if more than $230,000 in back taxes aren’t paid to Wood County by Nov. 13.

Dabrowski said weather probably hurt her sales. She said it was extremely hot on Friday and Saturday. It rained most of Sunday.

“I suffered from heat exhaustion on Saturday,” she said. “It was showing on the faces of the collectors, too. People were just walking around with blank faces.”

Glass collector Mike Martin, of Pomeroy, said he suspected there could be some mixed feelings about Fenton Art because of the news of a restructuring. Still, Martin said he likes to collect pieces and that he hoped the company continues to produce glass for many years to come.

“As far as the collectivity of the glass, I would think if something happened to the plant it would increase the value of the pieces,” Martin said. “But it sure would be missed. I would definitely miss the new lines that come out every year and the chance to collect new pieces.”

Vendor Linda Ash, of Medford, N.J., said she has been attending the annual flea market and glass festival for several years. She said attendance did appear to be down some, but that she still had a good weekend for sales.

“I was very, very busy,” Ash said. “I was doing a lot of selling and buying. There were a lot of good deals to be found.”

Ash said her favorite part of the weekend came Saturday evening at the Fenton plant for the annual auction.

“The auction was absolutely outstanding,” Ash said.

In addition to the auction, the plant offered free tours, glass making schools and demonstrations. There were also signing events for collectors.