The Historic Alexandria Foundation held its annual antiques show last weekend, a premier event benefitting the Historic Alexandria Preservation Fund.

The events surrounding the Antiques show the wine party, the VIP preview and the show program book are our biggest fundraisers each year, said Mary Sterling, executive director of the Historic Alexandria Foundation, which sponsors the show. We use the proceeds from the show to support preservation and research projects throughout the city as well as administer the historical plaques program.

Over the course of three days, more than 2,000 visitors attended the signature event held at the Holiday Inn Old Town on First Street. A preview reception was held on the eve of the show, which ran from November 13 to 15 and for the last seven years has been co-sponsored by Babs Beckwith and McEnearney Associates.

Total proceeds from the show will not be tallied for several weeks but will go toward the Historic Alexandria Preservation Fund. The HAPF grants awards each year to meritorious projects, which may range from bricks and mortar restoration work to conservation of artifacts in museum buildings or scholarly research on Alexandrias cultural and architectural history.  

Grants recently awarded by HAPF include the Alexandria Black History Resource Center for a permanent exhibition, the Carlyle House Historic Park for expert research in the use of 18th-century interiors and the Lee-Fendall House Museum for their curatorial activities.