A Greek businessman bought all the Jagodina cakes!

The owner of a chain of hotels and restaurants in Greece bought all the displayed cakes at the exhibition of the artisan products of Jagodina and Morava in Paralia for a whopping € 5,000. The value of the cakes bought by Atanasis Kavakidis, the owner of several hotels and restaurants in Paralia Katerini, was 5,000 euros, and they were prepared and displayed by members of the "Slatki Osmeh - Sweet Smile" and "Mastaonice- Daydreamers" from Jagodina.

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The exhibition was held on Tuesday evening on the main square in Paralia, on the plateau near the church and fountain and it incorporated honey producers, cobblers, blacksmiths, manufacturers of matting, baskets of woven wicker, mushrooms producers, pastries, articles of wood and other utilities, as well as painters.

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The exhibition was of great interest to Greeks and various tourists in Paralia, including many from Serbia. Most shoppers were hotel owners in the area, and the single most sold products were honey and honey related products.

Foto-ilustracija: Profimedia

According to the final data, the total amount of goods sold totaled more than 40,000 euros.

A large number of basket makers, cobblers, weavers, beekeepers, carpenters, plasters, weavers and other craftsmen were satisfied with the sales at the exhibition, because all  products "were a hit" for a short time.

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Unlike other parts of Serbia, where crafts are dying largely because young people are not willing to continue the family tradition of their grandfathers, judging by the exhibition and the number of products sold, old crafts in Jagodina have a future.

Upon the opening of the exhibition,  President of the City Assembly of Jagodina, Dragan Markovic Palma said that they are hand-held products with a long tradition in families for 100 or even 200 years.

Foto: Tanjug/Nenad Milošević

- Trades of their ancestors are today being used by their grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and we must not allow these crafts to die out, and we want to help them maximally. Here you have something that can be eaten, honey, cakes, perhaps someone needs mixed nuts with honey, you can buy walnuts in Greece, and honey from Serbia - Markovic said, adding that the exhibition has a symbolic character, because besides tradition and good relations between Serbia and Greece, so far there was no mutual interest.

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- We have a tradition in Orthodoxy, in respect, but there was no mutual interest. Up until the other day, only we had interest and the benefit from it, and as of today we have a common interest, and when there is a common interest, that love can last a long time - said Markovic.

Slavisa Ivanovic from the village of Dražmirovac near Jagodina continued the family tradition of his ancestors that dates back over a hundred years and successfully produces and sells Serbian folk costumes and sandals.

flickr.com/Aleksandar Cocek

- I continued the tradition and I've been practicing the craft of traditional footwear for more than 30 years. We came here in Paralia, sales are going well, I am  satisfied - says Ivanovic.

The biggest attraction was the true guardian of traditional crafts, antiquer Milan Jovanovic from the village of Lovci, near Jagodina, deals with a number of old crafts and is a self-taught master.

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- I have been forging, wheelwrighting, carpeting, carving, doing rifles for guns, and I do construction as well - I plaster, build houses from the foundation to the roof. Here I present a little, just as much as I could take with me. I hope this exhibition will help to expand production, to export something and earn a bit of money for the basics of life - says Jovanovic.

Foto: AP/Tanjug, Tanjug/Aleksandar Ćirić, Milena Đorđević

Živorad Stanković from Mala Laništa is living proof that old crafts in Jagodina have a future.

- From the age of 13, I've been doing the craft of wickerwork. My father did it, as do I,  in addition to my children. It's not easy, I got sick given that I go into water up to my chest and pull out reeds for the asuras on the daily, but even still, it is good, because I've earned for my house thanks to my trade - I bought four  hectares of land, we have a tractor, we have everything and I am glad that my family will continue this tradition - says Stankovic.

Members of the association also had their own booth which was dedicated to the conservation of traditional crafts from Jagodina "Ethno-forma". Srebra Stanisavljevic, a member of the association says that members are satisfied with the sales.

- The mayor and all the municipalities helped us a lot. We combined the nice and useful of the activity, we had a lovely time and earned a pocket-full of money and so we are satisfied. We make folk costumes, rugs, all traditional products and we are satisfied - she says.

(Telegraf.co.uk/Tanjug)