Coverage of the Winter Sale
Jasper Everingham and Willow Solomon | December 6, 2023
On Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, the Bryson Gymnasium at Warren Wilson College (WWC) was bustling with lights, live music, and students from across campus selling crafts and goods that they had made.
Ben Stetter, a WWC student selling wood-carved pens, bowls, spoons and more, said that he enjoyed the community aspect of the Winter Sale.
“It's a cool opportunity for everyone to come together as a community at Wilson,” Stetter said. “I really appreciate that it's not just one set of people that come to [the Winter Sale]. It’s not just students or faculty. It's a whole collection, and people from the local community come as well.”
The Winter Sale, put on annually by the Herb Crew, originated as a way for crew members to display what they had been working on all year, said Rosemary Thurber, an Herb Crew member who worked hard to bring this year’s Winter Sale to life.
“As soon as Herb Crew came about, Winter Sale came about,” Thurber said. “Herb Crew creates products from what we grow and distributes them out to the community, and so alongside other folks on campus— the Ceramics Crew, Fine Woodworking, Blacksmithing— they began having markets every December for people just to come and gather.”
Although it has the word “sale” in the name, Thurber said that the Winter Sale has always been more about community than profit.
“We're not very capitalistic, we're not centered on the money,” Thurber said. “Business Crew has offered to help us in the last year and they assisted us — but we don't do it from a business standpoint, we do it from a community celebration standpoint.”
Aria Hansen, a WWC senior, echoed that community-oriented vision.
“It's fun to see everybody buying things and all of your friends coming up and talking to you,” Hansen said. “It's fun to see all your friends are also making; all their hobbies”
Piper Gross, a WWC first-year selling drawings, zines, and other papercrafts said that applying to be a vendor was a breeze.
“It was super easy,” Gross said. “The [Herb] Crew made it super simple to sign up, and then they were super receptive with creating options for how to sell. This is my first time today, so I showed up and they give you your number assignment for which table you are. It was cool to be able to get to sit next to other vendors and share experiences and talk shop.”
Although this year’s Winter Sale is over, there are other opportunities for students to sell goods on campus, and Thurber said that planning for the Winter Sale is a year-round process. Stay tuned next Fall for announcements about vending and attending the 2024 Winter Sale.