A Treasure Hunt Awaits

By Tim Johnson, The Daily Nonpareil

A treasure hunt awaits those interested in antiques and collectibles.
Melting Pot Productions will hold an Antique Spectacular April 22-24 at the Mid-America Center, 1 Arena Way. The show will be open Friday from 5 to 9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and April 24 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday night's activities will include live entertainment by Paul Hart and a wine bar.
It will be the third antique show at the MAC for Melting Pot, owner Kim Schilling said. The shows have gotten progressively larger, drawing 50 dealers last April, 62 in October and almost 70 for this event.
Last fall's show was very successful, she said.
"It went very well," she said. "It was well-attended, and we had just wonderful quality dealers, so it was well-received by the public."
The spring event will feature a wide variety of specialties, including furniture from country to Victorian, railroad memorabilia, pottery, books, prints, primitives, jewelry, silver pattern matching, antique glassware, china, vintage posters, postcards, vintage clothing, rugs, textiles, quilts, toys, advertising, coins, vintage textiles and period pieces, Schilling said.
"We keep a diverse selection so there is something for every collector," she said. "We have four really quality furniture exhibitors, and then we have several general-line dealers who also have furniture. We show quite a bit of furniture."
Council Bluffs collector John Harrill operated a booth during Melting Pot's first two shows at the MAC and plans to return for this one, he said.
"I'm looking forward to it," he said. "Both of the other ones I've done went real good."
Harrill plans to offer more diverse merchandise this time.
"Generally, I do toys, mostly; but for this show down there, I've added some railroad memorabilia, some paper items and some race horse information," he said. "I want to try something different, because I want to have something for everybody. I've found out that there's a lot of people that want to look at a lot of different things."
Artifacts will include old railroad timetables and programs from horse races at Ak-Sar-Ben, he said.
Also returning for the spring show will be Bev Delehant, co-owner of Bev's Antiques & Collectibles in Shenandoah. She and her husband, Virgil, have been in the antique business for 25 years and have had their shop in Shenandoah for about six years.
The fall show went well, Delehant said.
"Last fall, it was very good for us," she said. "We were satisfied, and it was a very, very nice crowd. It was a beautiful show - just a nice mix of anything."
Delehant plans to bring an assortment of glass, primitives, prints, pottery and other items.
"I like to take a nice mix," she said. "I don't zero in on one particular thing."
Melting Pot also produces antique shows in Des Moines and Moline, Ill., Schilling said.
"We actually have people that travel to all three of our shows," she said.
Admission will be $5 per person for the whole weekend.
For more information, please visit www.antiquespectacular.com or call 888-677-4440. The Antique Spectacular is presented by Melting Pot Productions, Inc. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. Free parking will be available.
The SMG-managed Mid-America Center is a 9,000-seat multi-purpose arena, conference center and exhibition hall. The arena is home to the USHL Omaha Lancers hockey team. Headquartered in Philadelphia, SMG is the leading private facility management company. With 156 venues, SMG controls more than 1.3 million entertainment seats worldwide and more than 9 million square feet of exhibit space. For additional company information, visit www.smgworld.com. For more information regarding the Mid-America Center, contact SMG at 712-323-0536.