by Denise Richer

There's a 'new kid' on the block in Madison-Bouckville's antique community. Well, I guess you could say a new antique co-op, because the dealers are not new to the antique community. Of course, we are referring to the grand opening that took place in early April of the new Canal House Antiques on Route 20 in the village of Bouckville.

Deanna Boston and John Van Schoick have combined efforts and now operate the new "Canal House Antiques". Deanna and John are joined by eight other veteran antique dealers to make this new shop a welcome asset to this popular antiques destination in central New York.

Located in the heart of Bouckville, Canal House Antiques new offers shoppers a new and exciting place to enjoy with two floors of quality antiques.

"John made me do this", whispers Deanna, as we ask her how this new venture started.

It just happened that a building came up for rent, and John approached Deanna with the thought of starting up a new co-op.

After meeting with the owner of the building and coming to an agreement everything started to fall into place rather quickly. "The building is light, airy, manageable, and we knew it could be a good thing", says Deanna. "I am so excited that we have a place to sell our antiques that we can feel good about, and have enough room to let others join in and enjoy it as well", she adds.

The other dealers that have joined in came rather quickly, as available spaces for rent filled up much quicker than Deanna and John had anticipated. The shop now holds 10 dealers that fully cover both floors of the building.

It is just as Deanna states, "airy, light and manageable". Each dealer has filled their spaces and cases in such a pleasing and attractive manner that one hardly notices that there are separate spaces for each vendor.

The building itself has quite a history to it. It had been a market for over 50 years, and then operated by a couple of other owners, most recently as an antique shop for the past few years.

Now it is an antique co-op again. Visitors will enjoy searching for their treasures within these interesting walls. I say interesting because this building is just perfect for an antiques shop. Most of the building has wonderful old tin walls that Deanna has put a fresh coat of paint on - quite a transformation.

I am sure you want to know what treasures these walls hold within. Let's see, to start with, some very good furniture in oak, cherry, and pine - bookcases, tables, Mission chairs, dressers, chests, and even an old ice box in oak. We also see Victorian-era chairs, summer wicker for the porch, cupboards, china cabinets, beds, and a selection of primitives.

In all, Canal House Antiques offers an assortment of styles, sizes, and varieties for a shop of this size.

The showcases are nicely done. Very well arranged and easy to look at, you will find flow blue china, lots of silver, jewelry, vintage Halloween decorations, string holders, early games, cast iron banks, cookie jars, glassware, and more. Prices are reasonable and everything is marked so you can readily see the tags, often without having to have cases opened.

Co-owner John Van Schoick has a tremendous display of postcards, complete with chairs for the shopper to be comfortable as they browse through thousands of cards. Moreover, other dealers have paper items - postcards, stereoview cards, books and other ephemera.

The walls also hold some great early framed artwork. lithos, and advertising. Expect to find Raggedy Ann books as well as Oz books.

Another attraction is a selection of tins and kitchenware for the 'dedicated' collector.

There are also some great looking lamps, linens, and all kinds of decorative accessories.

Woodworking tools and various other trade tools, a particular interest of this writer, will be found in profusion, as well as early primitive items from candlesticks to a country cupboard.

Owner Deanna Boston is not new on the scene. She comes to Canal House with over 18 years of experience. She says that even before that 18 years she 'dabbled'.

Things started to really start up after a friend convinced her to try doing the immensely-popular Antiquefest at Longbranch Park in Liverpool, NY, a northern suburb of Syracuse.

After that she really got going and has been an antiques dealer ever since, participating at antiques shows, and as a very active member of the Madison-Bouckville Antique Dealers Association.

Now she has a place to call her own, and in only a few short weeks has made it - Canal House Antiques - a showplace in one of New York's leading antiques districts.

Other dealers that decided to be part of Canal House are as excited about this new venture as Deanna and John are, each doing some "dealer time" as part of the co-op operation. The "turn over" and continually changing displays guarantee there is fresh merchandise all of the time.

There is a large showcase at the front desk where all of the dealers can showcase a few items, serving as a preview of what each dealer might have to offer on a larger scale in their own display areas.

The Canal House is now open from Thursday through Monday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On the first of June the shop will go to a six-day time schedule, being open from Thursday to Tuesday, with the same hours.

The building, located at 6737 Route 20, is almost in the center of Bouckville, right on Route 20. It has the look of an old 1860Ős canal house, with two large windows in front, and four pillars. Look for three flags out front.

For more information, call (315) 893-7737.

Come by and say 'Hi', it's a nice place to visit .. and a nice place to shop!