Suffolk Art League members are busy preparing for what the group’s executive director says will be its biggest Annual Antiques Show and Sale yet.

The event will be held at King’s Fork Middle School next weekend. The league’s Linda Bunch said 41 dealers have signed up. “This is the most dealers we’ve ever had,” she said.

A number of dealers new to the event this year specialize in children’s items and accessories and period furniture, according to Bunch.

Other items for sale, she said, will include silver, furniture, crystal, linens, jewelry, crockery and porcelains, to name just a few.

Art Glass of Tidewater will provide crystal and glass jewelry repair, Father Time Antiques will offer clock repair and Norma Melvin will return with frame and photograph restoration services.

Mary Scott of Suffolk’s Serendipity Farms will return to demonstrate historic textile construction techniques used in weaving and spinning, another highlight.

Meanwhile, a painting by local artist Barbara West will be raffled. Available at the art league office, 118 Bosley Ave., or at the event itself, tickets are $2 each or three for $5.

The prize will be drawn at the end of the show on Sunday, but the winner is not required to be in attendance at that time.

Hours for the show and sale are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $6.

Food options will include Brunswick stew, barbecue by Rodman’s, chicken salad and homemade desserts.

The event started before Bunch joined the art league, but she said the first show and sale was held at Riddick’s Folly.

“At the time, the art league offices were there, and that was the cultural center of Suffolk,” she said.

Once the event moved to the National Guard Armory on Godwin Boulevard, it had room to grow, Bunch said. It moved to the middle school when the armory was no longer available for public use following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

“Again, we could expand the show a little bit more, because we had more room,” Bunch said.

The art league’s largest fundraiser allows it to provide free education programs to the public school system and at reduced cost in various other instances, according to Bunch.
It also supports student scholarships and exhibition programs.

“Through the scholarship program, we hope to get students involved in the arts, whether visual, performing or literary,” Bunch said.

The middle school is located at 350 Kings Fork Road. For more information, call 925-0448.