Store owner helps organize festivals in towns
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Robbie Bettis is a fan of festivals — especially those in Braselton and Hoschton.
That’s because Bettis is one of the key organizers for festivals throughout the year in the neighboring towns. And with two festivals on the horizon in Hoschton and Braselton, the next few weeks will be busy for Bettis.
“It’s something I love,” Bettis said. “It’s my forte. I like planning the festivals more than the event.”
Bettis also runs three antique shops in the towns — the Braselton Antique Mall, and Ye Ole Station and Antique Station, both in Hoschton.
And two years ago, she penned a book, “Passing,” about the histories of Braselton and Hoschton.
It’s ties to Hoschton that first stirred Bettis’ interest in festivals.
For more than 30 years of the Hoschton Fall Festival’s existence, Bettis has taken some part in the annual event. She had a booth at the Hoschton Fall Festival for almost every year.
Today, Bettis is part of a committee that helps organize the Hoschton Fall Festival, which is set for Sept. 26-27. The committee includes the city’s mayor, several council members and volunteers.
“I live in Hoschton,” said Bettis, who has operated Ye Ole Station since 1994. “I lived there all my life. So it’s natural to follow that.”
But in October 2004, Robbie and Fred Bettis opened the Braselton Antique Mall, located in the former Braselton Bros. Store in downtown.
Another antique dealer, Nathan Cagle, suggested that Bettis’ stores and Countryside Antiques in Braselton start a festival to highlight the area’s antiques stores and to bring more customers.
The Braselton Antique and Gardening Festival will be held on April 26-27 in the Braselton Park. It’s sister festival, the Braselton Antique and Holiday Festival, is set for Oct. 18-19.
The upcoming event will mark the ninth antique festival for Braselton, Bettis said.
Last year, organizers added gardening to the antique festival, but the concept was hampered by the threat of drought conditions, Bettis said. This year, organizers are promoting recycling at the antique festival. Visitors are asked to bring specific recyclable items that can be used to support non-profit organizations.
When it comes to the Hoschton Art Trax, Bettis uses her skills as a former educator in marketing with 30 years experience to attract a specific crowd.
Art Trax — set for April 19, at the Hoschton Depot — is targeting art investors who may have interests in pottery, glass-blown objects and other fine art, Bettis said.
While Bettis hopes that the antique festivals will make the Braselton-Hoschton area a destination for antique lovers, she hopes Art Trax will be the catalyst for Hoschton becoming a new location for art venues.
“It was a tremendous turnout last year,” Bettis said the inaugural Art Trax. “We were ecstatic.”
Bettis said the antique stores are already attracting tourists to the Braselton-Hoschton area. It was one of her customers at the Braselton Antique Mall who inspired a Native American theme for the Christmas in Braselton two years ago.
The theme for last year’s Art Trax centered on the “Jitney Bus,” a converted school bus that ran on railroad tracks for passenger service through Hoschton from 1927-1947.
And two years ago, the theme of the Hoschton Fall Festival was A.W. Thompson, a pioneer in the chicken industry who operated a business in the city. Many people had no clue who Thompson was until the city highlighted him during its fall festival, Bettis said.
“It’s whatever comes around and happens,” she said of the festival themes.
Bettis has also allowed the Rotary Club of Braselton to install its Christmas tree in front of the Braselton Antique Mall.
“This (store) is the heart of downtown. So it was natural that the tree go outside,” she said.
The Braselton Antique Mall has also hosted the Gallery of Trees during the Christmas in Braselton festival, which is sponsored by the Braselton Business Association. The Gallery of Trees gives a portion of its funds to a charitable cause.
