Of These Mountains from Outdoor Brand to Outstanding Marketplace Festival!

By Tracy McCoy

Recently I had the pleasure of talking with my friend and the founder of the Of These Mountains brand, Kendall Rumsey. We spoke about the brand that he created in 2018 as a lifestyle brand and essentially a love letter to North Georgia written through the designs of local artisans. At the core of the brand is a line of apparel and accessories that pay respect and celebrate the outdoor experiences presented by these mountains. Of These Mountains acknowledges that good things come from nature and they are dedicated to creating unique products and content that inspire you to seek new adventure and to live your life to the fullest. “At OTM we feel the mountains give us our employment, recreation, homes, commerce, history and future.” Kendall shared, “When I opened our retail store, it was important to me to feature local artisans and makers in the store, in addition to our local vendors, OTM is proud to design and produce our products locally, using local talent and small businesses.”

In Kendall’s former life, before moving home to Rabun County, he was the East-coast Marketing Director for a large mall management company. He was responsible for 26 properties from Philadelphia to West Palm Beach, Florida. Producing special events was part of his professional career. When Of These Mountains was born they began attending festivals as a vendor, it became apparent that Rabun County did not have any festivals like the ones he was attending. Kendall saw the Rabun County Pavilions as the perfect location for an event of this type. The first Of These Mountains

Marketplace festival was held in November 2020, followed by every May and November since. The upcoming event on Saturday November 4th at the Rabun County Pavilions will showcase 100 craftspeople, artists, makers and small business owners from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. In addition festival-goers will find awesome food vendors to enjoy. The 2023 OTM Christmas shirt will be released in their marketplace space at the event, which is exciting for those of us who have collected these holiday shirts since the beginning.

“It is not allowed to rain on November 4th, however if for some reason raindrops fall, we are rain or shine and the festival must go on.” Kendall added, “Fortunately the majority of our vendors are under shelter of the pavilions and the others under tents. In the past we have had a few showers but it didn’t stop people from coming. The festival has been so well received and attended by the community and for that we are all very grateful.” So mark your calendars and plan to attend the Of These Mountains Fall Marketplace at the Rabun County Pavilions at 201 West Savannah Street in Clayton, Georgia. The festival will begin at 10 AM and end at 5 PM. For more information please contact Of These Mountains at 706-212-0018 or check their website (where you may also shop) at www.ofthesemountains.com or find them on Facebook and Instgram. When in Clayton you are invited to visit their retail location at 39 East Savannah Street in Clayton.