Bazaar sells wares, donates to Sheriff

It was a busy yet productive day for vendors at the Annual Sanders County Christmas Bazaar. It was a chance for the craftier among us to tout the creations they've been working on and make a few extra dollars for the Christmas season. In addition to the homespun items available, other individuals, groups and churches had their booths set up in the high school gym for the annual local shopping event.

As busy as the vendors were, no one at the event was juggling as much as Janie McFadgen, who took over leadership of the event this year, and completed her trial by fire Saturday afternoon. "It was definitely a steep learning curve, but I had a lot of help and support from some great people," said McFadgen. She noted that one of the highlights of the day was a visit from the lady-singers of St. Williams Parish who treated attendees to a few song performances. Santa hanging around for a brief appearance was also a big hit.

From 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., Saturday, event-goers perused the items for sale from the numerous vendor booths. There was no shortage of baked goods and goodies, and around every corner seemed to be a home-crafted likeness of Santa, reindeer, snowmen, or other symbols of the Christmas season.

McFadgen is now finding out the details of wrapping up such an event. Duties such as paying the bills (like the insurance for use of the high school gym as a public gathering place), and tallying the percentage given by the vendors to cut a check for the Sheriff's Christmas Relief Fund. Vendors gave ten percent of their earnings, as per tradition, that will be turned over to the local law enforcement charity effort. "We had some generous donations from the community to give with our total, as well," shared McFadgen, "we don't have an exact total yet, but it looks as though it will be over $1,000 to be given to the Sheriff's Christmas Relief Fund." She especially thanked the members of the community who came out in support of the bazaar and the vendors who took the time and effort to be a part of the event, "Without these shoppers and vendors there would be no show," said McFadgen.