TRYON – Blue Moon Custom Glass, located at 354-B S. Trade St., will be celebrating an open house Monday, Nov. 21 from 5-8 p.m.

John Fisher and his wife, Beth, said they have had the shop for close to a year and are doing the celebration because most of their customers come from out of the area.

“I had a glass shop in Shelby when I met Beth in 1994,” John said. “We got married in 1995 and we’ve been self-employed since then. I was always doing stained glass from ’78 forward, whether it was doing it either full-time or part-time.”

Concentrating primarily on old lights and lamps, John said he has been working on vintage lamps since he began and his work has now evolved to Tiffany and Slag glass lamps and chandeliers in addition to some stained glass pieces.

“Beth has always been a big help as she does art and she does the finishes and design stuff,” John said. “We fix and repair old lights which are sometimes different from what you have nowadays.”

Beth, who used to own a restaurant and a wallpaper business in Shelby, added she had a customer come in recently who wanted two dog head bookends converted into lamps.

The couple also specializes in pressing flowers from weddings and funerals into glass floral keepsakes.

“The part I enjoy the most is working on the Slag glass lamps, which are from about the 1900s to the 1930s and were mass produced and sold through Sears,” John explained. “The power companies were trying to get electricity out, and you had the Tiffanys buying the high-dollar lamps. These were the workingman lamps and they are getting to be very collectible.”

John said he used to work for Dover Textiles. When the plant closed, he said he did not see himself going to “a job where I have to where long pants, dress shirts and ties.”

“We started hanging wallpaper all over Shelby and did stained glass at night,” John said. “The Lord blessed us because the first month after I got laid off, I got a huge job to do 18 stained glass windows for a church and He has looked after us ever since. We’re doing what we enjoy and saving some of the old pieces because some of these lamps are amazing.”

Door prizes, refreshments and food will be available at the open house. Visitors to the store can also meet Nick, John and Beth’s Boston terrier, the store’s official greeter.

Store hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Wednesday from 1-5 p.m. and Sunday from 2-5 p.m. To inquire about any of the items at Blue Moon Custom Glass or a future project, contact the Fishers at 828-859-5340.