Volunteer of nearly seven decades reflects on Harvest Bazaar

October 24, 2018 by Crystal Huskey

Norris Religious Fellowship will host its 83rd annual Harvest Bazaar on Nov. 2 and 3. Norris resident of 50 years Pat Gregory is in charge of the event, but she knows someone who has worked on it even longer than she has: Betty Lovell.

Lovell is 98 years old and moved to Norris nearly 70 years ago. She’s lived in the same house on Dogwood Road for nearly that entire time, raising her children and volunteering in the community.

“She’s been one of the main organizers since she was a young woman,” Gregory said. “She’s now in her mid-nineties, and still wants to come and help with planning, set up and sales.”

When Lovell arrived in Norris in 1953, the bazaar primarily sold clothing. Then, a few years later, she and another friend introduced the plant sale in the spring. She did that for 12 years selling just her own plants, until other members got involved.

“You still donate a lot of plants to the sale,” Gregory reminded her.

“I donate the excess,” she said. “There’s a lot of plants at reasonable prices.”

Lovell hopes to pick up some new garden tools at the next plant sale, since her shed sadly burned down in July. Gardening is something she excels at and is very passionate about; it keeps her young.

Gregory said that there will be many nice things in the silent auction during the bazaar, including handmade quilts. Often, people bring high quality items to the bazaar, like silver, entire dish sets and furniture. Lovell used to own an antique business, and said that silver never did sell very well there.

“Young people don’t like to clean it,” she laughed, “so they just give it to the bazaar.”

Things have changed since she moved to Norris all those years ago, she said.

“It was friendlier back then,” she said. “You knew and could name nearly everybody in every house in town. People don’t realize how important it is to just stop by and say hi.”

According to Lovell, if you were giving someone directions, you did so by referring to a house by the people who lived there. Hers was the Lovell House. Now, the new families don’t know the references. She attributes that partly to families living such hectic lives these days.

“The young people now all have jobs,” she said. “I never worked outside of the home until my last child was ready to go to college.”

At that point, she was hired at the Lenoir Museum, which was just opening. She worked at the Grist Mill a little while before that, grinding corn and greeting the public. She drove all around the Norris area with Will Lenoir, the founder of the museum, as he built his collection.

Between her love of antiques and community, the bazaar continues to be a perfect outlet for Lovell. For more information, call Pat Gregory at 865- 494-7103.