The RHS Facebook page is a rich archive of history-related posts by Carol Flynn, RHS Facebook admin and writer until mid-2025. Carol prolifically wrote a wide variety of meticulously researched local history articles for RHS. She continues to write for the Beverly Review and other media sources with articles particularly focused on local Ridge history.
December 2019
A wonderful presentation was given today at RHS by Maggie O'Reilly on "Fair Trade Threads." Maggie is the owner of The MAYTA Collection, which offers one-of-a-kind hand-crafted artisan items from Peru and Morocco.
Maggie grew up in Beverly and she and her husband are now raising their own family here. Her business grew out of her love for travel and other cultures, particularly Latin cultures, and her love of fabrics, color and textures. The MAYTA Collection follows fair trade practices when dealing with the artisans of these other countries – fair wages, safe working conditions, contributions to their communities, and other ethical practices.
Maggie was joined by her father-in-law, Vidal Gomez Pando, who is visiting for the holidays from Peru. She shared interesting photos of the artisans at work at their homes in the Andes Mountains. They do all the work locally – sheer the sheep for the wool, spin it into yarn, color the yarn with natural dyes, and weave beautiful fabrics. The fabrics are used for the bags and purses, and pillows and blankets, that The MAYTA Collection brings to the U.S.
This program was part of the "Threads of Imagination" exhibit which explores the intersection of fashion, art and business. The exhibit will be up through January 17, 2020.