for the News-Tribune

KEYSER — The splendor of West Virginia’s fall foliage will mix with crafts, food, and fun when Keyser High School hosts its annual arts and craft festival, Harvest Holiday, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24.   
The high school’s hallways will be lined with a diverse collection of artists and craftspeople. More than 70 vendors will showcase their talents.   
Crafts will include pottery, glass, woodworking, baskets, ceramics, porcelain, candles, jewelry, bears, toys, dried-flower arrangements and wreaths.
Shoppers may also select from a wide range of books. In addition, numerous Christmas decorations and ornaments will be available. Also popular will be country and primitive home décor, including wooden signs and country furniture.
Artists will display pen and ink drawings, photography, watercolors, and pastels.
Fiber artists will show woven and woolen scarves and blankets, afghans, and tatting. Appliqued shirts, pet clothing, pillows, totes and purses will also be represented.

see HARVEST page 15
Spa items will include soaps lotions, linaments and ointments.
Among the new offerings at this year’s festival will be wooden scrollwork, woodcarvings, turned wooden pens and other crafts from exotic woods, gourds with woodburned designs, Nantucket, Cherokee and tile-bottomed baskets, 3-D rock animals, and live plants.
Food gift items will include pumpkin rolls, apple dumplings, hardtack candy,  spices, apple butter, honey, jams and jellies.
The aroma of tasty concessions will also fill the air.  Grilled chicken and ribs, Italian sausage, burritos, tacos, salads in shells, and crab cake, barbequed pork and steak sandwiches will provide some of the temptations. Other choices will be homemade soups, vegetable wraps, and specialty salads. 
In addition, home-baked breads, muffins, brownies, funnel cakes, and pastries will be available.
Individuals and vendors are donating items, gift baskets, and gift certificates for a silent auction.
Harvest Holiday is being coordinated by two KHS organizations, ACES and HI-Y, as a fundraiser for a major landscaping project at the school. The clubs hope to construct a serenity garden with a hardscape labyrinth for school and community use. Students will need to raise more than $20,000 for the plan to become a reality.
Admission and convenient parking to the festival are free to the public.
Contact Cassie Delaney or Vickie Saville, faculty advisors, at Keyser High School (304-788-4230) for more information.