LABOR OF LOVE: OVER 1,000 EXHIBITORS AT 1997 CHRISTMAS CRAFTS FAIRS

~Correction: ARTS, RECREATION

Below: These dolls will become Woodland Santas.

Paula Myers, who does tole painting, posed with some of the wooden Christmas items she makes.

For the crafters who spend all year getting ready for this weekend's giant Arts and Crafts Extravaganza, the work is a labor of love they share with their families and friends.

Paula Myers cut the wood she uses in her tole painting, a style of Norwegian art she learned in Iowa and has taught in Colorado.

Paula's mother, Melba Job, has been teaching her granddaughter, Tina Meyr, a local graphic artist, to croquet and quilt.

Melba's sister, Judith Brittain, has been busy sculpting, painting and assembling woodland Santas.

On Saturday and Sunday, they will join other family members from as far away as Georgia and Iowa to display and sell their crafts at the 27th Annual Christmas Arts and Crafts Bazaar at the Show Me Center.

The bazaar is part of the Arts and Crafts Extravaganza being held at six locations throughout the area this weekend. The umbrella name was adopted this year by the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, even though each of the crafts fairs operates independently.

In addition to the Show Me Center, arts and crafts will be exhibited at the Osage Community Centre, The Arena Building, the Holiday Inn Convention Center, the Bavarian Halle in Jackson and the National Guard Armory in Cape Girardeau.

The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri is sponsoring their part of the extravaganza -- the Arts and Crafts Bazaar -- at both the Show Me Center and the Osage Community Centre from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days, with a total of nearly 400 exhibitors displaying their wares.

In addition to Paula Myers and her family, the crafts and exhibitors will include quilts and afghans from Elvina Adams of Ste. Genevieve, blown glass and handmade jewelry from Sam Davisson of Hannibal, and pencil and pen sets handmade from exotic woods by Mark Skrob.

Admission is $1.50 to both shows.

River Valley Crafts also will be hosting two shows during the extravaganza, one at the Arena Building and one at the Holiday Inn Convention Center, with a free shuttle running between the two locations every half hour. There is a $1.50 admission.

It is the second craft show River Valley Crafts has sponsored in as many weeks. A pre-show was held last weekend to accommodate the many exhibitors who could not participate in the extravaganza because of scheduling conflicts or simply because of space constraints. Most exhibitors reserve their space at the big show a year in advance.

As it is, the 21st annual River Valley Crafts show will feature 440 exhibitors from six states, and will feature a variety of items from pottery, ceramics and stained glass to baskets, dolls and homemade pastas.

The River Valley Crafts shows will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The River City CB Club is sponsoring the show at the Bavarian Halle in Jackson. The 91 displays in the show will feature not only crafts, such as quilts and homemade doll houses, but gifts such as antique jewelry and Russian nesting dolls, and Christmas items such as fresh mistletoe shot down from trees in Illinois.

Proceeds from the River City CB Club show will go to seven members of the Junior Members/Class of 2000 who have been raising money for six years to finance a 1999 trip to Europe.

The Bavarian Halle show will be open on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is no admission charge to the Bavarian Hall exhibition.

There is also no charge for the show being put on at the National Guard Armory, where 60 crafters will exhibit their work. On both Saturday and Sunday, the Armory show will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

When the exhibitors gather this weekend, they know they will be sharing their hard work with friends they have made at the shows over the years.

"I don't want to be one of those great-grandmothers who retire and take to a rocking chair," says 70-year-old Judith Brittain as she tries to explain why she keeps coming back to the shows. "I'll still do crafts after I retire."

Then, pausing to think about the long weekend before her, she adds, "It's tedious and drawn out, but I love every minute of it."