My wife, Lissa, was a talented artist and an enthusiastic art history buff. We dreamed together for years about traveling around Italy. More accurately, she dreamed about Italy and I was looking forward to traveling with her wherever she wanted to go, but Lissa died and our dream of traveling transformed into making Petersburg great again.

Italy has some neat stuff but nothing better than Our Town Fair (OTF) at the Morgan Cultural Center. We don’t have a Rembrandt but we have a lot of talented artists coming to Our Town Fair (OTF) – Selling, Swapping and Singing on April 25 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Instead of staring in awe at the Coliseum, I prefer touring the many booths with people bargaining for everything from trash to treasure.

OTF’s popular Our Town Idol competition is even better than experiencing Madame Butterfly at Florence’s Maggio Musicale. And we are giving cash prizes!

Lissa and I were really looking forward to spending a week in a beautiful Tuscany Villa, but I prefer visiting the Cruise-In that will be part of the 2026 OTF.

Italy is known for its priceless antiques but OTF’s antiques, collectibles, plants and locally produced fine art will have their price clearly labeled and often negotiable.

You do not have to go to Italy to have a health check-up. The Petersburg Lion’s Club is doing Eye exams for everyone, especially children. Maury Regional Hospital is doing health screenings. All this for free!

I bet Milan doesn’t have an Antiques Road Show and we don’t either, but we have a top-flight, certified appraiser coming to the fair. If you have anything that you would like to have valued, bring it, give the appraiser twenty bucks and you will get a professional opinion about what it is and what it is worth. She will even provide a written appraisal if you would like.

BEST OF ALL, you can donate $10 to enter a drawing to win $1000 worth of revolvers, automatics, rifles, scopes, ammo or anything you want from Ken’s Guns and More. Ken also has jewelry, handbags and much, much more. This is an amazing opportunity and you don’t have to be present to win.

We have some other desirable items for drawings: a week-long pass (two of them) to the Lincoln County Fair, including parking, a Jack Daniel’s barrel, and a big old bottle of fine Scotch. These tickets are only a dollar and will be sold during the fair.

I admire how Italians have preserved their architectural treasures, but I am even prouder of how the people of Petersburg have come together to bring the Old Morgan School back to life. All the money that we make at the fair will go into finishing the job so we can be a cultural center for our entire area. The progress so far has been amazing but there is more to do.

The Petersburg Community Cultural Coalition (PCCC) is a 501c3 so donations are deductible, plus entry into the fair is free on Saturday, April 25 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

— Gill, an Elk Valley Times columnist, is also an author. His books can be found on Amazon and other online book websites as well as in stores in Fayetteville and Petersburg.