Antiques in the Heart of Aiken continues today

Look at that: Bill Brooks of Carriage Trade Antiques, Blowing Rock, N.C., shows a necklace to Jeanette Harbin of Augusta. Staff photo by Michael Gibbons.

The 13th Annual Antiques in the Heart of Aiken opened to the public Friday after a gala Preview Party on Thursday evening.

Ticketholders to Thursday's party not only dressed to the nines and enjoyed good food and good music at the Aiken Center for the Arts on Laurens Street, but they also got first crack at the wares brought by the show's 22 Southeastern antiques dealers ranging from Texas to Virginia.

Tickets to the Preview Party included passes to all three days of the weekend antiques show; general admission tickets to the antiques show are $8 per person at the door.

"The Antiques Show is again a very successful event," said show co-chair Marcia Quinn. "It has met all our expectations, beginning with the Preview Party last night, which had wonderful food and entertainment."

Shoppers were waiting outside the door when the show opened at 10 a.m. Friday, according to Kristin Brown, Aiken Center for the Arts executive director, and first-day ticket sales went well.

"The weather cannot be better. Walk-in traffic is good, and the dealers are happy," said Arts Center board member and show committee member Taylor Garnett.

"If it keeps up like this, I'm going to be a very happy fellow," said antiques dealer Ben Adams.

"As a dealer, we are having a good show so far," said Dean Bullis, co-owner of Carriage Trade Antiques LLC. "We always enjoy being in Aiken."

Added Bullis' co-owner Bill Brooks, "The Sweetheart Cafe is wonderful."

The show's slate of dealers included many returning vendors and two new additions to the show, The Polished Antique of Greenville and Village Antiques of Asheville, N.C. The show also features five antique restoration experts, according to Brown.

"There are many lovely items here again this year," Quinn said.

Antiques in the Heart of Aiken will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Aiken Center for the Arts, located at 122 Laurens St. S.W.

There will be a special lecture by Steve Ferrell of Old Edgefield Pottery in Edgefield on "The Rich Tradition of Edgefield Pottery" at 9 a.m. today at the Arts Center's second floor Brown Pavilion; tickets to the lecture are $20, which includes admission to the antiques show.

For more information about the show or other upcoming events, call the Aiken Center for the Arts at 641-9094.