Welcome to Bethel St. Andrew's United Church

November 29, 2023  0 Comments

FITZROY HARBOUR – A rarity in the village of Fitzroy Harbour, last Saturday (Nov. 25) the community hosted two holiday markets on the same day, giving shoppers an opportunity to make a day of it.

As the holiday season kicks off in earnest, shoppers could visit the Fitzroy Harbour Christmas Craft Market, a brand new Harbour tradition, and the Bethel-St. Andrew’s United Church Women Annual Bazaar, a tradition so old, organizers aren’t even sure how long it’s been running.

And organizers of both events said the two markets complimented each other well.

The Bethel-St. Andrew’s Bazaar, well more than 50 years old, is hosted by the volunteer church women at the church and everything for sale, from crafts, to knit goods, to fresh baked bread, to endless pies, to tourtieres, to frozen soup (and more) was made by those very same women. 

You have to get there early if you want something, and organizers said they had to open the doors a bit early at to accommodate shoppers.

“We started at 10 a.m.” volunteer organizer Donna Laughlin told West Carleton Online shortly after 11 a.m. “We had a few early birds, but let’s say 10. The tables are getting pretty bare. The craft table, maybe not so much, but it’s shrinking too. But this table (baked goods), definitely. That’s what’s left and I’m assuming, all that’s left.”

The women had also sold more than 50 of their popular frozen soups by that time as well. Laughlin feels the craft and vendor sale just down the road has helped.

“I think so,” she said. “There have been people who have come from there, or some people who are going there after here. Whenever you are rural like us, I think that’s good. People come out to Fitzroy Harbour and you can do more than one thing at a time. It’s like garage sales, you like to line them up and get to them all in one go. And then next weekend, go somewhere else. I’ve never seen so many unfamiliar faces. Lots of familiar ones too.”