By AMY JONES / Associate Editor

NORTH SHELBY — Oak Mountain High School is holding a fall vendor market Oct. 20 to raise money for the school’s two show choirs.

Event organizer Kathy Parker said the two choirs travel all over the state to compete and plan a trip to Nashville in the spring for a national competition.

Vendors include handmade jewelers, artists, food vendors, a Mary Kay agent, a Scentsy agent, photo frame makers, a handmade scarf vendor and more.

Parker said her own experience led her to believe this would be a good fundraiser for the choirs.

“I actually am a vendor. I sell BeautiControl. I’ve done markets for a couple of years now,” she said. “My daughter was in show choir. She graduated in 2008, and I still volunteer. I do their costumes, I work with them and I knew we needed to raise money.”

The market so far includes 34 vendors, with eight more possible vendors right now.

Parker said she hopes to see a few hundred people come to the market.

“My hope is to bring in 400-500 people, number one. A lot of people have put a lot of work into it,” she said. “We’re hoping to make this an annual event.”

The vendor fees will go toward travel costs for the choirs, and event organizers will be selling concessions and will have a booth of their own to raise money for the show choirs as well.

Parker said people don’t always understand how difficult it is to be in show choir.

“It’s intensive. A lot of people say, ‘Oh, it’s just choir. But it’s really hard,” she said.

The event will be Oct. 20 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the school.

If anyone is interested in being a vendor, contact Parker at hparker1@bellsouth.net to inquire about booth availability.