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Both seasoned and beginning antique collectors can find anything from solid-wood furniture, to candlesticks and china, to linens and duck decoys from yesteryear next weekend at the Antiques Show, organizers say.

The event, now in its second year, features antiques from 26 dealers, most of whom come from northeastern states. Visitors can spend anywhere from about $50 to a few thousand dollars for individual treasures they find at the show, which benefits the Kerr Memorial Museum of Oakmont.

The Antiques Show will have "everything that one might be looking for in antiques. ... It's a good smattering of all kinds of things," says Jan Shoop. She is the chairwoman of the volunteer-run museum -- a preserved home built in 1897 -- and one of the show's chairwomen.

"It really is quite lovely; you see all the antiques in a very nice setting," says Shoop, whose museum hopes to use the funds raised to expand its children's programs.

"The more you know about history and how important it was, the more you appreciate today and what's going on."

People seeking antiques at the show may be surprised by what they find: Many things that are thought of as antiques are not, says Jack Squires, manager of the show and one of its dealers. The meaning of the word "antique" has been lost in the lingo of everyday speech, but the definition is much stricter. Many items that are called antiques -- such as artifacts from the 1920s -- are merely collectibles. A true antique, Squires says, was made by hand, and no later than 1885.

The durability of handmade goods -- particularly solid wood furniture -- enables the pieces to last over time, Squires says. By contrast, the stuffed sofa you bought in the 1990s may be beat up and practically worthless by now. The value of antiques appreciates, and owners make an investment they can cash in on later, Squires says.

"If you buy something new, you keep it for 10 years -- then put it in the basement, give it to the kids or junk it," says Squires, 70, of Grove City, Mercer County.

"The antiques really are something that never go out of style; they are always in style ," he says.

Antiques have a warm, quaint charm about them, Squires says.

"If you go into a house that is decorated ... and it has a number of antiques in it -- it just has a real comfortable feeling," he says.

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