Updated 11/2/2025

The Lake Claire Craft Fair (LCCF) located in Intown Atlanta, Georgia, has been evolving since 1995.  The first craft sale was the brainchild of a former Arizona Avenue neighbor and trustee of the Lake Claire Community Land Trust (LCCLT), Patti Richardson. Patti is a highly creative and energetic person known for getting things done, and she organized many initiatives in the neighborhood. A credo of the LCCLT in the early days was enhancing the lives of neighbors by community-building.  Raising money for taxes, mortgage, insurance, etc., was an ongoing concern, so the two things came together in forming the crafts fair. The first sale was held in 1995 as a two-day event on the first weekend in December, just as the tradition continues today.

The “artists” were neighborhood-based and sold out of *Miriam Herbers’ house. At the time, it was the biggest house on the street, which is not the case today!  The term “artist” was used loosely, as there were few “real” artists, which included Genise Spenle, Janie Wright, and Anne Terhokoski; the others considered themselves hobbyists or crafters. Some people just wanted to contribute to the community at any level, and made items such as voodoo dolls, painted rocks, pot holders, tie-dye, and other handcrafts. By 2002, most vendors came from outside the neighborhood, and the feeling of community had somewhat diminished.  When Miriam Herbers could no longer host, the fair fizzled out.

Some years later, when Sunshine Allard lived on Arizona Avenue, she suggested the event be revived. She and Miriam held the rebirth in 2011.  The sale began moving around to different homes on Arizona Avenue, including the Lake Claire Co-Housing (CoHo) common room, and it was co-organized each year by different neighbors, including Genise Spenle one year and Lilliane, her daughter, another year. Five years later, the fair was outgrowing available homes. The last host home belonged to Elizabeth Sullivan, also on Arizona.

Due to a need for more space, Miriam created a collaboration with Lake Claire Neighbors (LCN - Lake Claire Neighbors, our neighborhood organization), who had an agreement with the Frazer Center to use their facilities.  This new partnership began in 2016.  When Miriam was ready to retire, and no one from the Land Trust was interested in taking over, LCN took ownership and called it the Lake Claire Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair. 

From 2016 until 2019 the Holiday Fair was held in the Atrium of The Frazer Center.  It featured handmade gifts from 30 vendors, both kids and adults. Usually Mary Lin Elementary School had a chorus perform, and sometimes a couple of other acoustic musicians would showcase.  Then Covid hit in 2020, and the committee that ran the fair decided to disband it.  Beth Damon approached the committee with the idea to continue it as an outdoor event on the order of Oakhurst Music Fest, and they agreed, though no current member of the committee wanted to help.  Annsley Klehr simultaneously had the idea to create a larger event that would bring the Lake Claire community closer together.  So in 2020, Beth and Annsley teamed-up and organized a porch-fest or "walking tour" event in which every artist would be hosted by a house in the neighborhood, their own or another resident’s.  Since Covid was still a scare that year, the fair signs requested no more than 6 people approach tables at a time, and that people wear masks if in close proximity.

The name morphed to The Lake Claire Craft Fair (LCCF), and the date was changed to the first Saturday in December in order to accommodate a Sunday rain plan.  The first two years, 2020 and 2021, the LCCF was held across the entire Lake Claire neighborhood on both sides of McLendon Avenue.  In addition to the usual artistic vendors, food vendors and sponsorships were added, along with the goal of donating the proceeds to the Midtown Cluster Schools.  The music scene expanded from 1-2 groups to 7-10 bands that were spread throughout the fair.  Mary Lin Elementary School continued to have their chorus perform.

Porta-potties, as well as a LCCF information table, and tables for sponsors who wished them, were added.  

In 2023, after feedback that fair-goers felt the fair was too spread out and thus not walkable enough to visit all the artists in a timely manner, Beth & Annsley decided to contain the location of the fair to the south side of McLendon.  The smaller footprint of the LCCF made it more walkable for folks, and that is how it remains today.  

In 2023 and 2024, Jill Stanley, a talented IT specialist and graphic designer, whose contribution led to another level of professionalism, joined the ranks. Jill organized the linkage of the LCCF QR code to the Fair map, so that people could walk up to one of the LCCF yard signs and get a complete listing of the artists and their offerings, finding their addresses and that of food trucks and music.  Debbie Livingston, talented neighborhood photographer, became LCCF’s official photographer, and Beryl Memberg began creating visible marketing materials.   Clifton Sanctuary Ministries began to play a crucial role in providing the official parking lot and hosting one of the Porta-Potties. Their resident guests enjoy having a table providing cider and hot chocolate.

We have had a variety of volunteers of all ages help contribute to the success of the LCCF.  In fact, participation has increased in its most recent five years from 30 crafts vendors in 2019 to 115 in 2024, with 8 food trucks (and ten bands, which we purposely keep consistent to maintain the focus on arts and crafts).  The only "entry fee" is the agreement of the artists to donate 10% of their proceeds, which are then donated back to the public schools in our cluster.  

In 2025, Annsley created the LCCF website, (which you are currently on)!  Beth handles all the artist/host assignments and introduces the vendors to their hosts, attempting to spread similar artists throughout the space rather than clustered together, and communicating regarding requests and needs, such as electricity, flat spaces for tents, and the like.  She arranges the musicians and food trucks, though at the time of this writing, we hope to have volunteers to take over the food truck coordination and sponsors in the future.  Annsley also handles the social media and payment aspects.  We have continued to focus on the importance of children and young-adult participation, and on the sponsors' opportunities to support the community and our public schools.  The Lake Claire Craft Fair has become extremely popular, drawing attendees from all over the city.

We look forward to having you join us this year!

Annsley & Beth

*with thanks to Miriam Herbers for contributing to the history of the LCCF