The Cricket’s Nest Offers Handcrafted Items by Local Seniors
The Cricket’s Nest is a gem nestled among tall trees on Country Club Road. The Cricket’s Nest, an outreach of the Winston-Salem Recreation and Parks Department, is a retail gift shop completely stocked with hand-crafted items made by seniors.
In the mid-70s the Glass family donated an old cabin to the City of Winston-Salem.
Sue Drummond, then the assistant to the director of the City’s Recreation and Parks Department, immediately determined that it would make a perfect craft shop for seniors to display their wares and make a little money.
In 1976, the Cricket’s Nest opened on Peace Haven Road and was later moved to its present location at 4401 Country Club Road.
Upgrades and additions have been made, but the original counter is still in use.
Forsyth County residents 55 and older pay $15 to join the Cricket’s Nest.
Members price their own pieces and the Cricket’s Nest adds 15% to cover their expenses.
There are currently over 540 active members.
One member was so excited to have a place to sell her crafts because, “I’ve already given my crafts to everybody in my family!”
Kimberly Jones manages the shop and has seen it grow into a bustling enterprise stocked with hundreds of items made by members.
The shop is well-known for its baby items, as well as handmade doll clothes, including American Girl clothes.
Kim notes that, “children save up their money so that they can buy doll clothes here.” Regular customers also bring out-of-town visitors to shop because of all the unique items.
The look of the Cricket’s Nest has changed over the past ten years with improved displays, including locked displays for higher-priced jewelry items and a year’round Christmas Corner.
Inventory is rotated frequently with new items that come in weekly, including jewelry, handcrafted furniture, wooden toys, clothes, wreaths, pottery, floral arrangements and framed art.
They will also take special requests and try to find a member who can make the requested item.
One popular item is clothes to fit Barbie dolls.
For many years these clothes were made by Lucy Bryant, a long-time member who passed away at the age of 102.
Kim recalls a time that a customer complained that the Barbie clothes were not fitting like they had in the past and wondered if Mrs. Bryant had changed the pattern.
Kim compared her daughter’s Barbie doll to a new doll and realized that Barbie’s measurements had indeed changed – apparently Barbie had undergone a breast reduction! She informed Mrs. Bryant who adjusted her patterns accordingly.
The Cricket’s Nest hosts several special events during the year, including the upcoming Firecracker Festival, formerly Christmas in July, which has been held for over 15 years.
The Festival will be held on Saturday, July 18, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In addition to crafts made by members, there will be 35 vendors inside the South Fork Community Center and 20 vendors outside around the shop.
Volunteers will be serving free ice cream sundaes all day and Kona Ice will donate a portion of their sales that day to the Cricket’s Nest.
When you’re looking for that one-of-a-kind gift, or just something special for yourself, visit the Cricket’s Nest and help support the talented seniors in our community.
The Cricket’s Nest is open six days a week 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Thursdays until 6 p.m. and Saturdays until 4 p.m.
For additional information about becoming a member or upcoming events, visit www.cricketsnest.com, find them on Facebook at The Cricket’s Nest, or follow them on Twitter @cricketsnest.
