| Winter Antiques Show Frames Donald and Rosie, $2.5 Million Kid
Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump may still be feuding, but they are yoked as a couple at the 53rd Annual Winter Antiques Show at New York's Park Avenue Armory. Photos of Rosie and Donald sit side-by-side in a French 1890 double-oval picture frame priced at $2,650 at the Associated Artists booth. It is one of the cheapest items at the show, which is open from today to Jan. 28. With 75 international dealers, the show offers countless juxtapositions as curious as that of Rosie and the Donald, from cow weathervanes to African masks to Tiffany lamps. ``The Winter Antiques Show is one of those marvelous comings together, like a reunion of sorts,'' said Florida-based tribal-art and folk-art collector Jane Katcher. She'll be speaking at the show on Sunday about her folk-art collection.
Home decor store earns mayor's award
Home decor retailer Maison de Chanticleer is one of the recipients of the Mayor's Key Business Award for 2006. The annual award goes to businesses that open each year in Edwardsville. Partners Linda Hanselman and Mara "Mitch" Meyers opened the store Aug. 1 at 1055 Century Drive. Their store showcases French country style furniture, antiques, reproductions and accessories, a result of the two women's passion for European culture and entrepreneurial drive. "There really isn't a store like this in Edwardsville," Hanselman said. "We're not a traditional furniture store. We have furniture and have national lines of furniture we carry." Those lines include Drexel Heritage, Highland House and Freemarc. The two also import antiques from France and Belgium and Italy.
THAT OLD FEELING
Why do people go to auctions and estate sales and bid large sums of money on old furniture? Why do they browse antique malls, searching display after display of knick-knacks and trinkets to find one tiny thimble? "There are two theories on why people come to an antique store that I have heard," said Elizabeth Conner, an antiques dealer at Blue Moon Antique Mall in Victoria. "One, you're trying to recreate your own childhood or, two, you want to replace something that you saw at your grandmother's house, your aunt's house, your mother's house; something that really touches you in some way and you want to replace that, or you've always wanted it and never had it." For example, said Conner, owner of Eliza Jane's Antiques at the mall for the past five years, "When I was a little girl, girls didn't play with train sets.
Moline tourism grants top $326000
MOLINE -- The city is awarding $326,115 in tourism grants this year to community organizations and agencies to promote tourism. The tourism grant money comes from hotel-motel taxes that Moline levies on overnight stays, a tax first implemented in 1985. A 7 percent tax is levied by the city -- 5 percent for the tourism fund to be given as grants to fund activities that promote overnight stays, and 2 percent for the general fund. In addition, the state levies a 7 percent hotel-motel tax. This year, a little more than $1.3 million in tourism grants were requested by community organizations to help support their activities, said Moline's revenue manager Keith Verbeke. The city estimated it would collect $711,000 for tourism, of which $326,115 was earmarked to support 15 activities as well as the Quad City Convention and Visitors Bureau.
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