Bah Humbug Festival offers one-stop holiday shopping
ST. MARYS - It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas shopping season and the Sacred Heart Parish Bah Humbug Festival provides an ideal onestop shop by offering a myriad of both crafts and food items.
The doors open for the annual festival on Saturday at 9 a.m. and concludes at 2 p.m. inside the Sacred Heart Parish Center on Center Street in St. Marys.
Visitors wait in line early for the homemade spaetzle soup, proven to be a popular item with 250 quarts sold last year. Helen Burdick, co-chairwoman of the event, said their soups are usually a quick seller, as they are often sold out by noon.
The festival’s trademark baked goods sale, situated inside the second-floor gymnasium, features over 30 different choices of holiday cookies, freshly baked breads including rye and raisin, cinnamon rolls, walnut rolls and assorted candies such as peanut butter melt-away fudge, tagalongs, chocolate covered nuts, fruit cake available in brandied and unbrandied. Small loaves of sweet breads are also offered ranging in flavors of blueberry, zucchini, streusel and banana nut.
Volunteers baked 28,000 cookies last year including many traditional holiday choices such as lady locks, almond crunch, rugelach, raisin and apricot cookies and white chocolate raspberry, a popular favorite. The cookies are available in an assortment of sizes ranging from small, medium and large packages for those wishing to leave their Christmas baking to the church’s social committee which organizes the event.
Since the festival’s inception over 30 years ago, the event has become a holiday staple event. A large array of the 50 vendors are situated inside the cafeteria and gymnasium, a majority which reside locally within Elk and Jefferson counties, however there are a few who travel from Altoona, Pittsburgh and New York state. Vendors are both franchise businesses and hobby-based.
Among the variety of items being sold at the event are those ranging from crafts, knitted and crocheted pieces, holiday items such as wreaths, ceramics and other decorations, and handmade wood items, to jewelry, cosmetics, nail products, soaps, lotions, candles, home decor, jams, jellies and locally made candy, chocolate and treats.
The homemade lunch selections, available in the cafeteria, draw a crowd of their own, as visitors stock up on favorites spaetzle and
wedding soups, along with Reuben, beef on wick and hot sausage sandwiches as well as German potato salad.
All food is available for take-out. Those wishing to eat-in may do so in the Christmas Cafe, an expanded dining area situated adjacent to the cafeteria.
The large basket raffle features over 30 different types of baskets this year. Mary Jo Scott heads up the group for the basket raffle and is assisted by a group of volunteers who help collection donations, create baskets, sell tickets, and more. A majority of the baskets are donated mainly by Sacred Heart parishioners who either create a basket or donate
items for the group to put one together. There are baskets for those of all ages.
The baking process is non-stop as volunteers are divided into three groups, a day baking shift, a day kitchen shift and a night shift, which on any given night may have close to 50 volunteers working in the bakery and kitchen.
While many of the volunteers are Sacred Heart Parish members, there are several outside volunteers who pitch in because they simply enjoy baking.
According to Linda Brunner, event coorganizer, there are about 50 volunteers working the day of event to help make it a successful endeavor. Among them are about 15 volunteers situated inside the kitchen preparing and serving lunch items. The day prior to the event another 30 volunteers assist
in the bakery with icing cinnamon rolls and bagging bread.
Brunner emphasized without all this help the festival would not be possible.
Brunner and Burdick have worked together since the inception of the event ensuring the festival runs smoothly. The festival was started by former Sacred Heart Parish priest Fr. Ananias.