July 5, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
A Native American artifacts show will be held Saturday, July 29 at the Mike Foster Multi-Purpose Center from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. and proceeds will benefit the St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Admission to the event is free. Parents come and bring your children.
The artifacts show will feature displays ranging from arrow heads to pottery and some items will be available for sale or trade. “I think we have about 50-60 tables. We sell the table (space). It cost $15 for the table per person and that money goes to pay for all the expenses of the show and any money left is donated to St. Jude Children’s Hospital,” said Mike Foster, one of the event organizers.
“Tennessee has probably three or four major shows of this kind and this is one of them so we want to invite everybody to come to see the artifacts. I think you will be pleased with what you see”.
“We will have people who will be buying and selling as well as displaying their artifacts, but a lot of trading also goes on between the collectors”, said Foster.
“I like shell beads so I will have a lot of them there along with bone work and tools they (Native Americans) used but I guess the main attraction is flint including arrow heads, spear points, and things like that but there will be some pottery too. I even have a wooden bow from the 1600’s time frame. We’ll have collectors here from Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama among others”.
“You can probably go to any museum in the state of Tennessee, and you won’t see the amount of quality and the number of artifacts you will see there. It’s really enjoyable for people who like history or artifacts and it’s free so come on out Saturday because you’ll see some really good collections,” Foster concluded.
The show is sponsored locally and by the Volunteer State Archaeological Society, a non-profit educational organization devoted to the study of prehistoric America. This society is one of the largest of the independent state societies affiliated with Central States Archaeological Societies.
For more information contact Mike Foster at 615-418-5957.