A Half Century of Great Days

by Jeannine Gage 

The Oviedo Woman’s Club has been part of our community since 1906, when it was started as a way for friends to exchange magazines and books with one another. At the time, Oviedo was a small rural town with a population of around 500. 

When the club members wanted to raise funds to open a library in town, the fundraiser they came up with was a bit unusual: kidnapping pigs.

“Most every club member’s husband owned pigs back then,” explains Roberta McQueen, club president. “So, the women would have someone round up all the pigs and hold onto them until the men came around and paid a ransom.”

The strategy worked, because 118 years later, the club (and library) are both thriving. Eventually, though, club members needed a new way to raise funds, and they found the perfect way to do just that.

Fifty years ago, Great Day in the County – an annual arts and crafts festival – became the Oviedo Woman’s Club’s signature event and biggest fundraiser. This year’s event will be held on November 9 on the grounds of CrossLife Church on Broadway Street in Oviedo.

The can’t-miss festival attracts more than 15,000 attendees each year and raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for scholarships and education grants.

You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby

“It’s really remarkable what it has become,” says Mimi Bruce, a longtime club member. “Those first ones were really more like garage sales than art shows.”

Originally called the Oviedo Country Market and Auction, the festival debuted in 1974. Newspaper clippings from that year touted handcrafted items, paintings, and other objects of value that would be sold at the market. Items for auction included antiques, a handmade grandfather clock, an oxen yoke, and a weekend at the Hacienda Del Sol in New Smyrna Beach.

At this year’s festival, there will be arts and crafts booths galore, food trucks, a kids’ area, and of course, the club’s famous bean soup mix (more on that later), as well as a historical display and commemorative festival T-shirts for sale.

At the first event 50 years ago, $1,500 was raised, and two-thirds of that went toward covering expenses. In comparison, the 2023 Great Day in the Country raised $125,000 for educational initiatives such as scholarships and grants.

“We’ve always been education focused,” says Roberta. “The needs of the students and schools are always quite apparent to us.”

The club’s education donations are split between individual college scholarships to Oviedo students and grants to local teachers for everything from paper supplies to robot-building programs. Last year, 63 teacher grants were awarded.

“It’s a lot of work to go through all those applications,” says Roberta, “but well worth it.”

Another chunk of money – $18,000 last year – is donated to local nonprofit organizations that serve the community.

Cool Beans 

The money for education initiatives and nonprofits is raised through vendor fees, merchandise sales, and the aforementioned bean soup mix. Club members package the savory spices and beans for the soup into bags, which customers purchase to take home to make and enjoy.

“Oh, the mix is famous at this point,” says Mimi. “It was my mother and aunt’s recipe, and years ago, we had the idea to package it. It was popular right from the beginning; we sell out every year.”

Mimi, who turned 76 recently, has been involved with Great Day in the Country since its inception. Early on, the festival was held in the spring, but inclement weather prompted a permanent season change.

“One year, we had a terrible rain, just a downpour, and everybody had to go home,” says Mimi. “So, we just started over and did it the next weekend. But we decided that year to move it to the fall.”

Great Day in the Country has become a popular family tradition for people in our community – one that will hopefully continue for another 50 years.

“It’s wonderful,” says Mimi. “To see the artistry, and the camaraderie of the guests – it’s like a big family gathering.”

For details about the arts and crafts festival, visit GreatDayOviedo.org. To learn more about the Oviedo Woman’s Club, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, visit OviedoWomansClub.org.