The Laker/Lutz News

Shoppers flock to the Lutz Arts & Crafts Show

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Barbara Karnay, of New Port Richey, waits for customers under the roof of the Nature Coast GFWC booth to buy her Christmas wreaths that were fashioned from clothespins. (Fred Bellet)

After calling off its biggest fundraiser of the year last year, the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club resumed its popular holiday shopping festival and art show over the weekend at Keystone Prep High, in Odessa.

The 42nd annual Lutz Arts & Crafts Show featured plenty of tasty treats to eat and myriad choices for shoppers looking for unique items for people on their holiday gift lists.

The annual arts and crafts show —now  known throughout the region — started small, with a crafts show at the Old Lutz School.

It has been held in recent years at Keystone Prep High, 18105 Gunn Highway, in Odessa.

The event, geared with holiday shopping in mind, has been held without fail for decades, except for two years. It was canceled in 2015 because of a sinkhole in Lake Park, and it was called off last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It typically attracts between 20,000 and 30,000 over the course of the weekend, giving people a chance to shop, enjoy each other’s company, and take in the sights and sounds.

This year’s event featured more than 200 vendors. Santa was there and an orchestra played holiday tunes.

The woman’s club uses proceeds from the event to support scholarships and numerous community organizations and causes.

Published December 08, 2021

Artist Michael Howland’s fluidic work of an American flag was an eye-catcher for many strolling through the Lutz Arts & Crafts Show. Howland is from Keystone Heights, outside Gainesville.
Michele Northrup, a former Lutz Guv’na, hawks her hot sauce. The Saucy Queen, of Lutz, gets an assist from Atlas Cortecero, as she lets the crowd know how saucy her sauce is.
Kathleen Nay makes her way into the menagerie of metal birds, part of a display under the tent of Robyn’s Garden of Metal Garden and Lawn Ornaments. Nay, along with her sister, Elaine Duncan, both of Tampa, were checking out the artistic wares at the Lutz Arts & Crafts Show, presented by the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club, on the grounds of Keystone Prep High School in Odessa.
Ten-month-old Kate Aldridge lets out a yawn, as her mom Courtney Aldridge, of Land O’ Lakes, pushes her stroller along one of the rows of vendor tents. Kate’s brother, Chandler Aldridge, 4, was there, too, along with friend Jill Melle, of Brooksville.
Timmy, a 3-year-old French Bulldog, had it made in the shade as Jenny Engle wheels him through the arts and crafts show. Engle is fostering the dog for Southern State Bully Rescue. The woman was accompanied by her friend Krissy Mazza. They are both from Shady Hills.
Mary Rich, of Land O’ Lakes, and Sharon Greene, of Tampa, look over the old wooden post office boxes for sale under Paul D. King’s booth at the Lutz Arts & Crafts Show. The boxes — some of which date back to the 1800s — were converted by King into savings banks.
Bill Genovese, of Tampa, and also a member of the New Horizons band, sported this heels-over-head elf hat, adding merriment to the season.

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