The annual Diggers Club Antique Show is coming up on Saturday, March 7 at the Cowichan Community Centre.
This will be the 49th year of the event, according to Gerald Gonske, the club’s secretary.
Established in 1971, the Diggers Club is B.C.’s oldest antique and collectibles club, getting its name from the original group of diggers who literally dug old items out of the ground.
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“Our club has suffered membership losses over the last few years so we are very welcome to people joining,” Gonske said. “But you have to attend three meetings in a row and you also have to try to attend nine meetings through the calendar year.”
Even as a member, getting a table at the annual show isn’t easy.
“You have to be a member a whole year before you qualify to get an antiques show table,” he said.
Tables are highly sought after even though this year there’ll be roughly 85 available.
“I think it’ll all go well this year,” Gonske said. “Our tables are all sold out.”
Over the years the group usually has anywhere from 800 to 1,000 people come through their event, some new, some regulars, some from near, some from afar..
“Some people have been coming to the show for years,” Gonske said. “Well-known collectors from as far as Edmonton and Calgary, even.”
The show’s chairperson this year is a newer club member, Dyan Schulz.
“The light was shining on our club that night,” he said of her appointment to the role. “This gal took on quite a challenge and we had a previous chairperson who left us a lot of information and so far she’s doing a pretty darn good job. There’s a lot to it when you have somewhere around 90 tables.”
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For those interested in attending the antique collectibles show, it’s on Saturday, March 7 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cowichan Community Centre. Admission is $3.
For those who’d like to know more about the club, visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/126956521335255/
The club’s current president is non-other than Citizen history columnist T.W. Paterson.
Meetings are held at the Chemainus United Church hall, usually on the second Wednesday of the month.
sarah.simpson@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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