By GARY DEMUTH

Salina Journal

Before embarking on a search for Christmas gifts, Gwyn Schmidtberger and daughter Annika stopped to listen to fairy tale characters sing.

A lovely princess and a dashing prince sang tunes from the Disney animated classic "Beauty and the Beast" while greeting visitors at the 43rd annual See 'n' Sell Arts and Crafts Show on Saturday at the Salina Bicentennial Center.

"I like Belle," said Annika, 3Ôªø1âÑ2, pointing to the lovely princess.

Gwyn Schmidtberger said it was her and Annika's first visit to See 'n' Sell. The Hays residents were planning to stop at a wide variety of handmade crafts and homemade food booths and perhaps leave with a few Christmas presents.

Gwyn said she'd rather purchase a gift at See 'n' Sell instead of a commercial retail store.

"You know people here have made things and put a little love into it," she said.

The Schmidtbergers had plenty of potential Christmas gifts to choose from this year. About 228 vendors had booths set-up in and around the Bicentennial Center arena and in Heritage Hall.

Displayed were homemade clothing, jewelry, Christmas yard art, wooden sculptures and other holiday-oriented gift items, along with food offerings that included salsas, chilis, jellies, peanut brittle, dips and appetizers, popcorn and roasted nuts.

Kanopolis resident Johnny Miller said he enjoyed just walking around and looking while his wife April did most of the serious shopping.

"I just come to look at the people mostly," he said.

April Miller said she likes to find homemade items at See 'n' Sell.

"I get a lot of Christmas tree decorations here," she said.

For the first year, live entertainment was offered at See 'n' Sell. In addition to the fairy tale characters, performances were presented by the Salina Children's Choir, local vocal groups and a team of young dancers from Vivette's Dance Studio.

See 'n' Sell is a major annual fundraiser for the Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland. Proceeds from the event are used to benefit more than 15,000 Girl Scouts from the Kansas area, said Janet Whitaker, See 'n' Sell coordinator.

"It's for Girl Scout programs, and for girls who can't afford uniforms," she said.

Whitaker said she expected a record number of visitors at See 'n' Sell this year, about 4,000 to 4,500 people.

"I think the good weather is making a big difference this year," she said. "For my first year here, I'm pleased at the way things are turning out."

For area craft and food vendors, who come from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa and other nearby states, See 'n' Sell is one of their most profitable shows of the year.

Tim Scheele, of Odell, Neb., has been coming to See 'n' Sell for five years with merchandise from his family holiday yard art business, M & J Crafts. Each year, he displays handcrafted tin and wooden snowmen, Santa Clauses, trees, flowers and penguins, all of which he offers to personalize for free.

"We start selling at the first of September until the middle of December," said Scheele, whose booth was in the arena. "This is a really good show. There's always a good crowd."

Pam Corkins, of Hutchinson, said she comes to See 'n' Sell to find more personable Christmas gifts.

"You can't find these kind of things in a mall," she said.

Jan Henry, who sells homemade dips and mixes through her Salina home-based company, Homemade Gourmet, said she has made a nice profit for the past three years at See 'n' Sell.

"I have a lot of regulars who come back and buy from me each year," she said.

Salinan Justin Saner, busily pushing his young daughter, Adalyne, in a stroller, wasn't certain what kind of gifts or decorations he wanted to buy.

Adalyne, however, had no problem making up her mind.

"She wants everything," Saner said. "She loves ornaments, lights and anything that blinks. It's usually the biggest and flashiest stuff that she likes."

nReporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by e-mail at gdemuth@salina.com.

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