ALLEGANY, N.Y. — Over the past several months, Canticle Farm staff Kelly Hendrix and Kristin DiLorenzo have repurposed flea market items not only to sell, but also for the filming of an upcoming episode on HGTV’s “Flea Market Flip” show.
Hendrix and DiLorenzo decided to use their talents by helping raise additional funds for Canticle Farm by raffling off a restored Civil War camp chair at Saturday’s Farm to Table benefit dinner. The ninth-annual benefit dinner, previously called Heavenly Harvest, will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the 3835 S. Nine Mile Road property in Allegany and is open to the public.
Tickets for the four-course gourmet dinner, complete with locally produced beer and wine as well as live entertainment and activities, are $30 for adults and $10 for children age 6 to 12. Funds raised will help with the operation of the all-natural farm which is owned by the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, has community shareholders and provides shares to several area charities.
For their part, Hendrix and DiLorenzo said they decided to raffle off their restored Civil War chair at the dinner as a way to give back to the nonprofit farm.
“We were just trying to do something different” to help the dinner, Hendrix said of the chair raffle. She noted the chair was purchased at the East Avon Flea Market this summer and has been sanded, had its brass cleaned and will be reupholstered. It will also be coated with linseed oil.
The two women, who refer to themselves as the Salvage Sisters, have restored flea market items for their homes and as a hobby over the past year or so. They decided to do a Skype audition for the HGTV network, also known as the Home and Garden channel, last winter after they learned that Flea Market Flip was seeking craftspeople for the program. Much to their surprise, they were chosen for the program and were later filmed on three separate occasions in April, May and June. The episode that features them is expected to be broadcast in early October.
“We had competition — we had two people competing against us” during the purchase of items at flea markets, followed by their restoration and repurposing, Hendrix noted. “Basically we turned a cold storage box and a vintage laundry cart into a desk” for one of the projects. They also made a table and a bar cart from antique items found at flea markets.
DiLorenzo said they would eventually like to turn their advocation into a business, but for now are happy with current projects that include helping Canticle Farm.
“Someday we’ll get up to selling our stuff to the general public,” DiLorenzo added.
Sister Anne Rothmeier, who is one of the founders of the 16-year-old farm, said she enjoys the work done by Hendrix and DiLorenzo.
Rothmeier said Hendrix refurbished and reupholstered an old cushioned high chair that she sits on while watching the counter at the farm’s year-round market site at 3809 Old State Road.
“I don’t know how they find these (items) but they both take great pride in them” and the market, Rothmeier said while looking at her chair, which she describes as very comfortable.
For more information on purchasing a ticket for the dinner, or the raffle, visit online at www.canticlefarm.org or call the office at 373-0200, ext. 3358.
