Two craft and vendor shows slated for this weekend in the Bradford community will sell holiday items and gifts for every need, said organizers in Foster Township and the city of Bradford.
The 13th annual Holiday Craft and Vendor Show at the Foster Township Municipal Building on East Main Street will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, said event coordinator Margie Harris.
An additional event, the A Bunch of Friends Craft Show, will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Grace Lutheran Church on Mechanic Street, said organizer Bonnie Kelly. The show is sponsored by and will benefit the American Cancer Society Relay for Life team with the same name.
Harris, organizer of the Holiday Craft and Vendor Show, said the Foster Township event will host 40 vendors who will sell everything from food to antiques, crafts and goods. Wood and ceramic craft items, homemade candies and cookies, as well as LuLaRoe clothing, will be on-hand.
Harris, a long-time Tupperware saleswoman, organized the event years ago when she couldn’t find a holiday show where she could sell her product.
“Thirteen years ago, there were no shows that would allow anything else but crafters,” Harris recalled. “That’s why I started this years ago with four vendors” in the auditorium of the municipal building. As the show grew over the years, vendors and crafters moved into the hallways as well as empty offices in the building.
“The whole building is totally full now,” she said of recent shows. “We’re the biggest vendor show in town.”
Harris said food will be sold by a Relay for Life team and will include beef on weck sandwiches, chicken and biscuits and homemade pie, as well as beverages.
Harris said she appreciates the Grace Lutheran craft show, which runs at the same time, as this brings even more craftspeople and independent business people into town.
“I do this for the local vendors,” Harris added. “I want to help everybody in this area and keep the shopping in Bradford.”
Bonnie Kelly, organizer of the A Bunch of Friends Craft Show at Grace Lutheran, said she has conducted the one-day event for the past 12 years.
“This year we’ll have 27 vendors selling homemade crafts and items,” Kelly said. “We have quite a few crafters, vendors and customers who have been coming to this since our first show.”
Kelly said the event also boasts an excellent lunch consisting of wedding soup, meatball sandwiches and hot dogs. Dessert and beverages will also be available.
“Parking is very close and convenient, and for some people this is even walkable,” she said.
The event also has a wreath giveaway and a 50/50 event.
Kelly said Jill Nuzzo conducted the event for the first nine or 10 years of its existence. She said the late Steve Piscitelli, who died of cancer in 2015, also had helped organize the show in the past.
For that reason, all funds raised benefit Relay for Life, which aids research and helps local people with their battle against cancer. Kelly said $1,000 is typically raised by the event each year.
“We always have fun with this,” Kelly said of the show.
