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First Universalist Church                     

31 North Main St 

Orange, MA 01364                                                           

 

Holiday Fair Happenings

     Actually, it happened.  The Holiday Fair, that is, and in a big way!  Saturday, November 18th dawned bright and clear, the door opened at 9 am to the politely waiting crowd and The First Universalist Church was filled with voices, laughter and the smells of fresh coffee and chowder.  We weren’t packed in uncomfortably, but had a good steady stream all day.  The tally so far is $5,986.56 and counting.  Thalma the Toy Lady is still selling toys on Sundays after church and there are still a few items left on the gift table in case you didn’t get all of your shopping done.

     Where do I begin the awesome task of thanking everyone who helped, donated, printed, cooked, carried, delivered, constructed and cheered on the feat?  Because it truly takes the efforts of this entire church to make it happen and then some.

     First of all, we received a tremendous number of donations from individuals, church members, businesses, merchants and friends who gave financially and in the form of gifts.  Donations made up raffle prizes, silent auction items, center table items and baked goods.  Without them, we could not have realized the success we did at our fair.  Thank you!

     Raffle items donated were:  Pam Rossi-Card Tricks in Blue, quilt; Robin Goodwin-Sacred Spaces quilt; The Jim and Bonnie Hume family-a cord of wood; Ruie Hall-Winter Scene painting

Thanks to each of you for all of the hard work and to everyone who sold and bought tickets.  Thank you, Ralph, for printing the beautiful tickets!  Raffle table workers Joyce Sweeney, Joan

Reid, Maria Bonneville and their relief workers did a great job manning the ticket table.

     Dena more than doubled the 50/50 raffle proceeds this year and made Nick Sweeney a very happy young man as the winner of the $25 Door Prize.  Good selling, Dena!

     Thalma the Toy Lady has done it one more time, and I think there were more toys than ever before.  Once again, her  crew of Cecilia, Bonnie, Pat and Julianne made it possible.  Thank  you, Thalma! 

     Evergreen and bird seed wreathes and cemetery boxes were more popular this year thanks to our in-house creative artists Adele and May with construction support from Jim, Jim, Dick, Sally and Cecilia.

     The food  and apple pie and cheese tables did their usual booming business and terrific job of displaying and marketing the goodies.  Thanks to Janice, Sally, Carlton, Curt, Karen and Donna.  Further thanks to Joyce for making the beautiful Thanksgiving Cake for the Food Table Raffle.  Also, thanks to Rice and Joanne for “manning” the Equal Exchange table. 

     The center table had a great selection of items artfully displayed and managed by Elaine, Dorene, Peter and Cara.  Thanks for all of your hard work!

     And oh, the food!  Lisa, Ruie, Robin, Anita, Hillary, Scott and Rice combined to make a spectacular luncheon served by a superb wait staff:  Nick, Lindsay and Sophie.  The woman taking in the dough?  Jean!  Thank you all.

     Sharon and the Youth Group/Church School created some very beautiful gifts which looked sold out at the end of the day.  Thanks Sharon, Adam, Priscilla, Jane, Nick, John Austin and all who helped with berry bowls.

    

The Silent Auction did very well for the second year and thanks go to all who donated items and created the most beautiful baskets:  Thalma, Lisa, Becky, Adele, Jim, Janice, Joan and Ruie.  More than 30 items filled  the Silent Auction table.  Thanks Peg Robinson and Becky for promoting it so well! 

     The Gift Table had many beautiful  items handmade by our church members and friends.  Charlotte, Jennie and Jackie managed the brisk business all day with Kirsten and Peg relieving.

     Our publicity this year fell to the very capable hands of Lisa who was responsible for making signs and flyers, and getting articles and ads published with the help of our in-house photographer, Janice.  Lisa, if you ever quit your day job(s), you certainly have a career in printing!  To Jay and crew at WJDF, a hearty thanks for promoting our fair so well with ads and with the remote broadcast.  It helped boost the attendance to ensure us our success.

     Decorations and table setting were handled most capably by Dick, Carlton,

Curt, Scott, Jim and Dave

     The lights added a festive glow to the day and to the season.  Thank you, also, to Julianne, Nick and Adam for moving the toys.  It was a lot of work!

     Thank you everyone for everything.  It was a job well done.

     Happy Holidays!               Pam