The End of summer Fun -Dixon's Gun Builders fair is no more

[recurve]

  I just came from Dixon's and couldn't believe what I saw on the other site 

                                     DIXON'S Gun Builders Fair is NO MORE!!!!

  This is the end of summer time fun here in berks county Pa.... Mr G Dixon said it's for several reasons,  they are not retiring yet, just the fair is gone,,,,,,,

[Eric Kettenburg]

I'm sure it's a very expensive, and time consuming, and stressful event to put on.  Not to mention liability concerns etc. 

World is becoming a weird place.

[duca]

Ya know i heard this mite happen,  Sooo sad. It was a GREAT event! It sucks more for me because it was somewhat close to me in N.J.. @!*% times are changing for the worse.

Anthony

[Ky-Flinter]

This was posted on the Dixon Muzzleloading Shop Facebook page today.......

It is time to announce that we will no longer be holding the Annual Gunmakers' Fair at Dixons. It has been a good long run, but for many reasons, we have come to the decision to end the fair.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank family and friends, judges, seminar speakers, volunteers, vendors, and all the folks who attended the Fair over the years.
Please know, we are not retiring. The shop will remain open for business in the coming years.

[Ky-Flinter]

Darn it.  I was only able to attend once, years ago.  Now that I'm retired, I had hoped to go this year.  Oh, well.

-Ron

[rich pierce]

I’ll miss the gathering of the tribe.

[Steeltrap]

I'm going to guess that since they did not have one this year......it didn't really effect their sales much....if at all. I'm sure they attempted to take into account business that was because people were inside and instead of going crazy.....did another build.

But likely the biggest reason was stress of putting on the event.....and perhaps not really selling enough inventory to cover the event's cost.

All just SWAGS on my part.

[Frank]

The lockdowns killed his business. I had heard that Dixons made more money during the gun fair than they made the rest of the year.

[Mike Brooks]

 There is going to be nothing left soon. Mission accomplished, much more  cancelation to come.

[moleeyes36]

Well that was one of the two ML events on my bucket list.  The other one is the CLA Show, I certainly hope it doesn’t go belly up as well.

Don Richards

[utseabee]

    This is horrible news. Unfortunately we had an idea that this might be coming. I hope there is something else started here in PA to help soften the loss.

[tlallijr]

Terrible news , the show was so much fun and a great place to learn about building.

[smart dog]

Hi,
This is really sad news but before the conspiracy theories get going let me interject some truth.  Brenda Dixon, who organized and ran the fair, has had health issues for years and for the last few years the fair was on tenuous grounds.  She was taking it one year at a time until she decided to pull the plug.  In 2017, Acer Saccharum stepped in to help with planning and organizing all the seminars and ALR demos to take some of the burden off Brenda.  I am sure the pandemic did not help but the fair has been on shaky legs for several years.

dave

[Frank]

Hopefully this one is still left. It has been cancelled for this year, but maybe next year.

http://18thcenturyartisanshow.com/


This is also a good event.

https://friendsoffortfrederick.info/market_fair.htm

[utseabee]

Hi,
This is really sad news but before the conspiracy theories get going let me interject some truth.  Brenda Dixon, who organized and ran the fair, has had health issues for years and for the last few years the fair was on tenuous grounds.  She was taking it one year at a time until she decided to pull the plug.  In 2017, Acer Saccharum stepped in to help with planning and organizing all the seminars and ALR demos to take some of the burden off Brenda.  I am sure the pandemic did not help but the fair has been on shaky legs for several years.

dave

   I agree with Dave's points and could see that it has been heading this direction for a few years. When I was there a few weeks ago, I noticed for sale signs on the fields where they had the parking also. I don't question Greg and Brenda's reasoning at all. I am glad that they intend to keep the store open.

[Osprey]

 

[duca]

Hi,
This is really sad news but before the conspiracy theories get going let me interject some truth.  Brenda Dixon, who organized and ran the fair, has had health issues for years and for the last few years the fair was on tenuous grounds.  She was taking it one year at a time until she decided to pull the plug.  In 2017, Acer Saccharum stepped in to help with planning and organizing all the seminars and ALR demos to take some of the burden off Brenda.  I am sure the pandemic did not help but the fair has been on shaky legs for several years.

dave

   I agree with Dave's points and could see that it has been heading this direction for a few years. When I was there a few weeks ago, I noticed for sale signs on the fields where they had the parking also. I don't question Greg and Brenda's reasoning at all. I am glad that they intend to keep the store open.

Agreed!!!

[Karl Kunkel]

Wow,  I was afraid this day would come.  The highlight weekend of the summer.  I'll miss the gathering of all the kindred spirits.  This was the nicest, most polite gathering of people.  Everyone was friendly, the tradesman and artisans enjoyed talking with anyone who would walk up to their table.

When my wife went, she said she had never seen such a large, three day event, without a spec of trash on the ground.  If someone managed to miss a trash can, the next person by would pick it up and throw it away.

Thank you to the Dixon's for the times we had.

[BOB HILL]

I haven’t attended since the eighties, but have many pleasant memories and many long lasting friendships from those times. I am sorry to hear that it is gone. The Dixons and everyone else did a great job for so many years.
Bob

[Long John]

I am saddened to hear this.  I only missed going once in almost 25 years.  It was always the highlight of my summer and my gun-building efforts.   But recently the attendance had been dwindling each year.  It seemed the interest in historical firearms was waning.  A lot of blackpowder shooting clubs have suffered a decrease in membership and member activity, too.

Once this Covid virus mess is behind us perhaps another venue will emerge to fill the void.  But it will never be the same without "The Fair" each summer at the Dixon ML shop.  For many of us it was the ONLY time we would have occasion to actually meet fellow gunmakers and other kindred spirits.

I will miss it.

I wish Greg, Brenda and family all the best and my gratitude for all they did to brighten the lives of so many.

Best Regards,
JMC

[thecapgunkid]

Frank...The lockdowns killed his business. I had heard that Dixons made more money during the gun fair than they made the rest of the year.

Nope.  Greg and Brenda conversed with me about the effort of putting the fair on, and it seemed pure altruism that they even did it at all.  Frank's rioght about the hurt from the lckdowns, but the fasire was not a big profit event for them.  I'm just glad they're not gonna retire.

[B.Habermehl]

Dang shame, I’ve been going down there for more than 20 years and never missed a year. Even the year I need a buddy to drive me down there when I had a eye injury. Attendance had been declining for years. There was empty table spaces last fair. The event will be missed. For me it had become a “family” reunion of friends. Thanks to the Dixon family for putting on this event for so long. BJH

[Daryl]

Sad to hear as I hoped to attend sometime in the future. Only once I was there myself, but did get to meet some great folks.
Best wishes to the Dixons and everyone.

[Tom Zack]

I went there many times.  It was like an escape into the past.  Really sorry about their family problems. Hope all is well with them.

Maybe that Jacobsburg place can step in.

Friendship is too far for me.

[Mad Monk]

Hi,
This is really sad news but before the conspiracy theories get going let me interject some truth.  Brenda Dixon, who organized and ran the fair, has had health issues for years and for the last few years the fair was on tenuous grounds.  She was taking it one year at a time until she decided to pull the plug.  In 2017, Acer Saccharum stepped in to help with planning and organizing all the seminars and ALR demos to take some of the burden off Brenda.  I am sure the pandemic did not help but the fair has been on shaky legs for several years.

dave

   I agree with Dave's points and could see that it has been heading this direction for a few years. When I was there a few weeks ago, I noticed for sale signs on the fields where they had the parking also. I don't question Greg and Brenda's reasoning at all. I am glad that they intend to keep the store open.

Those fields you mention were not Dixon's property.  He just sort of rented them for the weekend of the fair.  It was also a question of when that farm would be sold.   There were a number of farms sold in that area in the past few years.  On very rainy weekends Chuck had to pay for truckloads of crushed rock to fill in the swampy areas.