WILKES-BARRE — With Christmas just a few short weeks away, the First Presbyterian Church wasted no time getting into the holiday spirit with their annual Alternative Christmas Craft Fair on Saturday.
“We call it alternative because it gives everyone something alternative to do for Christmas,” said Pam Kerns, from First Presbyterian Church. “We have crafts from all over the world, and 15 vendors here with us today.”
First Presbyterian’s craft fair dates back more than 20 years, according to Kerns, and is always a big hit with the community and with anyone looking to add to their decorative display or find a quick gift before Christmas.
The vendors, a good mix of longtime participants and first-timers, set up shop inside the church around 10 a.m. and were quickly met with a wave of customers.
“It’s been good so far,” said Helene Elko, who had a variety of handmade buttons, including necklaces made with buttons strung together, a talent that’s she been working with for 30 years. “I’m always blown away by the response I get.”
Much like Elko’s table, most all of the vendors at Saturday’s fair were selling handmade items, whether they be crafts, baked goods or knitted items like afghans and winter hats.
Susan Woodling, owner of Susan’s Crafts with a lovely display of hats, blankets and accessories for children, said she’s been knitting and crocheting for as long as she could remember.
“I learned how to knit from my grandmother,” she said. “I’ve been doing it my whole life.”
One truly unique vendor embodied the international flavor that Kerns had mentioned: Margarita Rose from the Peace and Justice Center had crafts for sale that were not just from the area, but from places like Peru and Uganda.
“Our mission is to promote a dialogue of peace and justice among diverse groups,” Rose said. “We educate, we hold camps in the summer and we’re holding a camp in January, too.”
Among her items for sale were holiday greeting cards made by poor and disabled children from a ministry called Yancana Huasy in Peru. She also had beaded necklaces from Uganda, and locally, ornaments designed to look like sushi from a Girl Scout troop in Dallas.
Right at the door to the fair, the smell of baked goods was unmistakable: Lynnae White, seated alongside her daughter-in-law Dana, had a baked good selection that was impossible to pass up.
“This is my first time here, my daughter-in-law told me about this fair,” Lynnae said. “I’ve already sold out of my Italian cookies.”
Dana, who was selling woodworked items that her husband makes and she paints, has been a member of the church since she was 10 years old.
“We’ve been married for nine years, he’s always done woodwork as a hobby but we started selling them about two years ago,” she said. “It’s so much fun.”
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December 05, 2021 at 12:30PM
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Alternative Christmas Craft Fair offers eclectic gifts - Wilkes Barre Times-Leader
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