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Sharebear Playschool hosts Christmas Bazaar

Stettler's Sharebear Playschool held its yearly Christmas bazaar as vendors occupied the Stettler Recreation Centre, spilling into the Hub.
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Stettler community came out early on Saturday morning to attend the Sharebear Playschool’s annual christmas bazaar at the Stettler Recreation Centre and the Hub. Seen here are customers going through leggings at Leggings by Steph.

Stettler's Sharebear Playschool held its yearly Christmas bazaar as vendors occupied the Stettler Recreation Centre, spilling into the Hub, on Saturday, Nov. 21.

Speaking of her experience at the bazaar, organizer Ruby MacDonell said, "This is my first year helping coronate the bazaar with a bunch of great ladies."

"All eight of us worked the past few months getting donations, organizing vendors, location, Santa and volunteers, and we wouldn't have this bazaar without all of the volunteers helping out, even the parents and relatives, who made the baking items," said MacDonell.

Since the bazaar is a fundraiser, Stettler Recreation Centre works well as a venue, keeping costs in check.

"So far the venue is working well for us, because we are doing the bazaar as a fundraiser, this location works well for the cost, but every year we seem to change things to improve the sale," said MacDonell. "This year we added the option of photos with Santa, selling donated Christmas ornaments and made more room in the Hub for more vendors, and we would like to make the sale larger every year but that will just take time."

Speaking of crowds and how much of a footfall did the bazaar see, MacDonell said, "The walk-in traffic may have been a little slower as there was no hockey tournament going on at the Rec Centre this past weekend, but we did have a great turnout and the traffic was steady all day."

"All vendors did great, some have been coming for years and some are just new this year," explained MacDonell. "They all said they did well this year but I'm not sure if any had a larger sale than anticipated."

"The funds all go back to the Sharebear Playschool, either used for our new location or class stuff, games, and operating costs, and its the same every year," added MacDonell. "We'd like to say a huge thanks to all the people who donated to the raffle table, concession, and volunteered their time to make our 7th annual Sharebear Bazaar a great success!"

Prairie Junction bazaar in action

Another Christmas bazaar was at the Prairie Junction with community showing great support throughout Friday and Saturday, Nov. 20-21.

"This is our third year of holding the Christmas market at the Prairie Junction," explained Karin Phibbs, one of the organizers. "This is an awesome venue for it, with easy access and lots of parking for our customers and patrons."

Held in a small, yet cozy space, by the early evening most of the gift wares and items had been sold out while a steady stream of people continued to flow through the doors.

Regarding the items at the sale, Phibbs said, "Everything in the market is hand made, Trish Denholm being a fabulous potter does all the ceramic giftwares, while I do the handmade Santas and snowmen and all the quilting, basically, anything with fabric."

Tanille Timmins who has been with the committee for three years does all the fresh arrangements and wreaths.

Szi Szi Kistenuk, who owns the Prairie Junction with her husband and partners, does the silk arrangements.

"This year our candy was made by Verna Rock, and was a hit," said Phibbs. "Catherine and Ernst Alders daughters Martina and Angela joined us as well, so it was very special. They came with their mother's bread recipe!"

Karen Cameron from Bowden was the invited artist, who paints on feathers and had some amazing work on display.

"We are free enterprise, and this is our way of reaching to our customers and have a strong local following who have been coming for almost 20 years!" added Phibbs. "We love the venue, and we are planning on doing it again next year."