November 23, 2006

Valerie Spinning, owner of Bonadies Glasstudio, will celebrate the 30th anniversary of her stained glass and gift shop during the Holiday in the Village weekend, Dec. 2-3.

By Diane Chiddister

Valerie Spinning loves stained glass, and she loves Christmas. So it’s no surprise that she looks forward to the holiday season in her Xenia Avenue store, Bonadies Glasstudio, where light dazzles through stained glass windows, hanging glass balls, Christmas ornaments, jewelry, perfume bottles and other glass items.

“I try to make it magical,” Spinning said in a recent interview.

The holiday season is especially magical for Spinning this year, as her store celebrates its 30th anniversary. The celebration takes place Dec. 2-3 during Holiday in the Village in downtown Yellow Springs. Spinning will honor her customers by offering 20 percent off any store items during those two days, and 10 percent off through the end of December. She will also serve refreshments.

In her 16th year as Bonadies owner, Spinning can most often be found in the back of the store, cutting out glass to fit designs made by local artist Joe Williams, then assembling and soldering the glass into its finished form. She finds the process continually gratifying, she said, because she spends her days working with the mysterious light-altering aspects of glass, and producing beautiful objects.

“The light comes in the front window of the store, and then the light changes and the colors change,” she said. “I never get tired of stained glass.”

Spinning’s passion for her art began about 20 years ago, when she took a class in West Liberty, then began creating stained glass pieces on her own. At the time an employee of the Import House, she was allowed by owner Don Beard to hang her creations in that store’s windows. There, she said, they were spotted by local artist Migiwa Orimo, who suggested to then-Bonadies owner Alicia Caulfield that the store hire her.

Bonadies had been opened in 1976 by Caulfield and her husband, Lew Bonadies, both of whom at first worked in the store. Caulfield learned stained glass while studying fine arts at Kent State University, according to a 1976 Springfield news article, and Bonadies learned the art as well. The couple later divorced, and Caulfield was running the store when she took Orimo’s advice and hired Spinning as a part-time employee.

When Caulfield decided to sell the store two years later, Spinning knew she wanted to buy it, but doing so seemed a pipe dream -— she didn’t have the cash. But she was able to purchase Bonadies after receiving a loan from the parents of local resident Chris Hertzler for the down payment, she said, and after Caulfield allowed Spinning to purchase the business on a land contract.

“It was very generous of her,” Spinning said of Caulfield. “Without those three people, I wouldn’t own the business.”

A former resident of Yellow Springs, Spinning now lives in London, Ohio, with her husband of two years and two stepchildren. Most days she drives to her store to assemble the designs created by Williams, who spends Tuesdays at the shop. She also employs part-time sales people Nancy Lewis and Carly Bailey.

People come from all over to shop at Bonadies, Spinning said, and she has regular customers from Columbus and Cincinnati as well as Yellow Springs. She receives many compliments on the original window designs created by Williams, and she feels grateful to have him on board. Along with designing about 100 new pieces throughout the year, Williams frequently does custom pieces for customers, she said.

Along with the store’s original windows, Spinning stocks the store with an assortment of glassware, including the large hanging “witch’s balls,” perfume bottles, Christmas ornaments and jewelry. She makes buying trips once or twice a year to a large art show in Philadelphia to look for new items.

“I try to have beautiful things, and work hard to keep it interesting,” she said.

While she’s grateful that Bonadies has survived three decades, she has seen a decline in business the past two years, Spinning said. She believes that many people feel the effects of a lagging economy, and that stained glass, as a luxury item, is one of the first purchases to go when shoppers cut their budgets.

But Bonadies is one of the oldest stores in downtown and Spinning believes she will weather this downturn.

“I’m feeling hopeful,” she said.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com