Wayside Inn Antiques Show co-sponsored by Murphy Insurance

Proceeds from the show will benefit The Wayside Inn Historic Site, the 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization that oversees a sprawling 125-acre campus. The grounds include Longfellow’s Wayside Inn, the Gristmill, the Schoolhouse, and the Martha-Mary Chapel, along with scenic walking trails waterways and a formal garden. Funds raised will be used for ongoing property maintenance, collections care and educational outreach.

“A lot of people who visit the inn and grounds don’t realize we are a non-profit historic site and that this event is our biggest fundraiser of the year,” said Guy LeBlanc, Wayside’s Museum Services Coordinator. “This show, which is getting more popular each year, helps us to care for the buildings and grounds and to conduct the educational and cultural events we host throughout the year.”

The show begins on Friday evening, May 11, with a preview party and reception sponsored by Jaguar Sudbury from 6-9 p.m. Tickets for the preview party, the major fundraising portion of the event, are $125 per person with advanced registration, or $150 at the door. The main show will run on Saturday, May 12 from 10am – 6pm, and Sunday, May 13, Mother’s Day, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission on Saturday and Sunday is $10 at the door. Children 12 and under are free, as are moms on Sunday with an accompanying full-price admission. Skinner Auctioneers & Appraisers, of Marlborough and Boston, and the D. Francis Murphy Insurance Agency, headquartered in Hudson, are the show’s Presenting Sponsors.

According to Karen Keane, CEO of Skinner, Inc., “We’re proud to again support what’s become a highly anticipated antique event in MetroWest, and we’re especially pleased to be co-presenting with our long-standing business partner D. Francis Murphy Insurance Agency.” Keane continued, “We’ve made a corporate commitment to the help preserve the Wayside Inn so that generations to come can enjoy its unique and distinctive charm.”

“Supporting the historic mission of the Wayside Inn is a natural fit with our agency’s ongoing support of cultural and historical organizations,” said Murphy Insurance CEO Dennis F. Murphy, Jr. “Also, our 40-year relationship with Skinner and our experience working with antique dealers and collectors made committing to be a Presenting Sponsor a logical decision.”

Diana Bittel, of Diana H. Bittel Antiques, is back for her third year as the show’s manager.

“We have some great new dealers and a good mix of antiques from a wide range of types and styles,” Bittel said. “There will be some very important pieces, and some very affordable pieces. There really is something for everyone.”
Back this year due to their popularity last year will be the informative “Booth Chats,” with various dealers who will meet face to face show goers to discuss collecting, conserving and enjoying antiques. Topics will include a session on marine art by Bittel, oriental rugs by Karen DiSaia, and American painting by Jeff Cooley. The full schedule, topics and presenters of this year’s chats, to be held during the Saturday and Sunday sessions, is still in development.

In her third year as a vendor at the show, Sudbury resident Sarah B. Cunningham, owner of Walker-Cunningham Fine Art, on Boston’s Newbury Street, will be bringing a wide range of art works to her booth, including abstract expressionist paintings, 19th Century portraiture, and sculpture.

“I really love this show and there’s a real demand for it,” Cunningham said. “And as a resident of Sudbury, I love that it supports the Wayside Inn Historic Site.”

Cunningham added that being a vendor at the show also gives her the opportunity to meet many art collectors who may not travel in to Boston very often.

For a complete list of participating dealers, video of last years’ show and directions log on to www.thewaysideinnantiquesshow.org. Or phone 978-440-9630 for more information.

About the Wayside Inn Historic Site

The Wayside Inn Historic Site (WIHS) is an internationally recognized 125-acre campus which operates the colonial-era inn and tavern known as Longfellow’s Wayside Inn. The WIHS offers educational tours of its village-like property to nearly 150,000 visitors annually, providing access to a water-powered grist mill, an early one-room schoolhouse, as well as the Wayside Inn homestead itself. A non-profit since 1944, the WIHS is dedicated to the preservation and stewardship of what was an important 18th-century stagecoach stop, using museum-room settings and display cases to exhibit objects related to the four generations of the Howe family who ran a successful inn keeping business on the site from 1716 to 1861.

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