Frank plans scrapbooking festival for Natchez in August
Published 12:00 am Saturday, September 17, 2005
Take your favorite photographs, some colored paper, a few good stencils and let your creativity loose. That is part of what it takes to make a terrific scrapbook, said Pam Frank of Natchez, who has taken her hobby to a new level by establishing Scrap-N-on the River.
Only three years ago, she attended a scrapbook party sponsored by Creative Memories, a company selling scrapbooks with acid-free pages and other acid-free products.
&uot;I became interested there. That’s when I started,&uot; said Frank, who is hosting a scrap-booking festival in Natchez Aug. 4, 5 and 6 at the Natchez Community Center. &uot;I began to see that there was so much more to it.&uot;
Her enthusiasm for creating scrapbooks has spread to other members of her family, especially to her niece, Maecee Thornton, 6, who on Tuesday demonstrated her talent for decorating a page as her aunt talked about the process.
&uot;I started showing her how to do this when she was 4. She was at the house quite a bit, and she asked me to let her do it,&uot; Frank said. &uot;I’d have duplicate things made so she could do what I was doing it. She loved it, and she is very creative.&uot;
Scrapbooks spread across the table, Frank pointed out how a page of pictures can tell a story and capture an important moment in family history.
&uot;The history is very important,&uot; she said. &uot;You tell a story. You write a journal to go with the pictures.&uot;
A nephew graduated from high school last week. Frank surprised him with a scrapbook that begins with his first baby picture and continues into his baseball career at high school.
&uot;I spend a lot of time doing this,&uot; she said. &uot;I call it my therapy. I bury myself in this.&uot;
Having attended scrapbook conventions in other cities, she began to talk to her husband, Buddy Frank, about the idea of hosting a Natchez scrapbook festival.
&uot;He said go ahead and do it,&uot; she said. &uot;I have fliers going out. I’ve sent out messages to Internet bulletin boards. I went to Baton Rouge and talked to some people about it and had 10 phone calls before I got back home.&uot;
The Scrap-N-on the River Festival will include vendors who will bring materials to sell at the conference. She has signed up five so far and expects to have as many as 15.
Scrapbook enthusiasts may come from miles around. Frank expects up to 250 to attend the first festival. And she expects it to grow.
&uot;The one in Monroe began four years ago with about 250 people, and at the last one they had 1,000 people,&uot; she said. &uot;I look for this one to grow.&uot;
The festival will include classes, contests and, perhaps most important, a chance to get together with other people who have the same passion for creating scrapbooks.
Cost for the three-day event is $100. Registration is under way. Anyone interested in the festival should call Frank at 601-445-9003 or 601-597-4705 or e-mail her at
natzscrapbooking@bellsouth.net
.
Even those who know little about the art of making scrapbooks can enjoy the festival, Frank said. She especially hopes history and genealogy buffs will attend.
Furthermore, she hopes many people come from outside Natchez and spend plenty of money. &uot;I mainly invested in Natchez in doing this,&uot; she said. &uot;I want more people and more money to come to Natchez. My husband and I are here to stay. We want to do something to help.&uot;