STEVEN NALLEY
November may not have started yet, but Pam Hunt and others at First United Methodist Church are already preparing for Christmas.
On Thursday, they were busy cooking and freezing casseroles, and taking cakes out of the oven to cover them with icing Friday. Hunt said she believes those who feel it might be too early for Christmas will change their minds once they smell the cinnamon and pastries in the air.
It’s all part of FUMC’s preparation for the Christmas Handworks Bazaar, scheduled for Nov. 4 at the Christian Life Center.
A total of 34 vendors will be in attendance, 16 of whom are returning from last year’s bazaar, Hunt said. All vendors are required to sell either homemade goods or hand-embellished items, such as decorated picture frames or embroidered T-shirts.
“As a church, that’s part of demonstrating the God-given talents of the community,” Hunt said. “All of these things were made in Mississippi. We’ll have a couple of people who throw pottery; we’ll have children’s clothes; we’ll have people who make ceramic Christmas decorations.”
The bazaar, entering its sixth year, benefits Habitat for Humanity, and Hunt said it raised about $7,000 for the cause last year. Hunt said representatives from Habitat for Humanity will be at the event, along with one or more inhabitants from Habitat houses to meet the vendors.
“They will show a map of the houses that have been built,” Hunt said. “(The vendors) are told it’s to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, so it helps them to be able to meet some of the recipients.”
In addition to the vendors, the bazaar will also feature the Sweet Spirit Sandwich Shoppe and live entertainment, with Christmas songs from the children of FUMC’s Weekday Ministries and such local singers as Gloria Williams, Shirley Harper, Brian Hawkins, Ted Beverly and Sara Beth Sewell. FUMC members will also tend to vendors by loading and unloading their wares and bringing them coffee and snacks.
“(The vendors) refer to them as ‘elves,’” Hunt said. “By the time we get through, we have 100-150 members of the church in some way.”
Read the complete article at Starkville Daily News.
Recent comments