At the Baked Goods table, Judith Hill points our prices for cookies and other treats to a curious young boy.

New life for Christmas tradition

Less than two months ago, the long-running tradition of our church holding a Christmas Fair on the first Saturday of December was a dead issue. For months, no one was willing to take charge of organizing a fair, fearing the task was to great to take on.

But not so for our United Methodist Women.

At its monthly gathering in October, the United Methodist Women decided the tradition of holding a Christmas Fair was too important to allow it to just slip away. Under the guidance of Jean Meyer and Meredith Delassandro the group devised a plan, built on it, gathered support, and pulled it all together with a big bow.

On Saturday, Dec. 1 our church once again held a Christmas Fair and the result was a big success, both from a profit standpoint, but most importantly as a way for church members to usher in the Christmas season with warmth and fellowship for both themselves and the community.

For many years it was Gail Parker who organized our Jolly Snowman Fair each December, doing so with not a lot of support and it was something she decided she could not continue doing in that way.

But with the United Methodist Women, it became a team effort with individuals taking charge of each table at the fair, from setting them up beforehand, managing them during the fair, and cleaning up and taking them down afterward. It was a winning combination — and Gail Parker was still there to help, but this time with the support that was hard to find in the past.

Gail Parker offering selections of jewelry at this year’s fair.

Throughout the week leading up to the fair, Jean Meyer and Meredith Delassandro, along with Lili and Pat Acheson, stopped by the church each day to create special touches for fair-goers to enjoy and by Saturday morning, Fellowship Hall became the festive, beginning of the Christmas season destination that very nearly didn’t happen.

The fair also was a success for the many contributions members of the church made to fill tables with special items, like the Silent Auction and Baked Goods. Early Saturday morning there were two tables set up for the display of baked goods, but by the time the fair opened at noon, there were four tables because of the offerings of cookies, breads, cakes, pies, fudge, and other treats members continued to bring in throughout the morning.

Thank you to all for helping to keep this church tradition a treasure we can all continue to enjoy.

A special thanks to Jean and Meredith for all they did, and to Jaymie Chamberlin for running the Silent Auction, to Lili Acheson for her All Things Christmas table, to Jane Beckwith and Barbara Knowles for the knit items table, to Linda McKay for the White Elephant table, to Joan Clinton for the Plants table, to Shirley Maxwell for the decorated fresh wreaths, to Carol Haider and Judith Hill for the Baked Goods Table, to Jen Geaumont and Kathie Hackett for the Catnip Toys and Holly table, to Gail Parker for the Jewelry table, to Deanne Burr for weaving sparkling threads into young girls’ hair, and to Mariah Parker and George Labreck for coordinating the hot dog lunch and used books room — see, it really was a team effort!

Click here for more images of the fair: