Organizers: It takes a village to get holiday bazaars up and running

Before the doors opened at Peace Dale Congregational Church’s holiday bazaar last weekend, a line of people stretched up a nearby street. Jewelry, baked goods, cookies, clothes, china ware sets and used household items are displayed for sale.

However, before those doors opened, scores of people spent months planning the one-day event. They had meetings, collected items, coordinated vendors and prepared food hours before the opening day.

“If we didn’t have volunteers and donations, this would never happen,” said Carol Edwards, a volunteer who pulls together the behind-the-scenes efforts that, just before 9 a.m. last Saturday, brought hundreds of people to this annual holiday marketplace.

Lynn Smith and Becky Stewart walked up and down the three floors of displays with names like Grandpa’s Attic, White Elephant Room, Children’s Toy Room and

Christmas Village.

Tabitha’s Closet had low-priced previously worn clothes, the Cookie Stroll with assortments from unique home recipes, and the Greenery section with plants and cut branches from evergreen trees for wreaths, garlands, centerpieces and flower arrangements.

“It’s wonderful,” said Smith of Wakefield, with Stewart of Charlestown adding, “There are unique things you can find and can’t find elsewhere.”

Edwards said that this church bazaar, like many others happening around South County last weekend, takes the whole church to coordinate. She and others said the last few days, running up to a five-hour event consumed full-time days by the planners and volunteers.

While creating a frenzy for planners, they provide cash from sales for many of these participating or sponsoring non-profit organizations and, in some instances, a bevy of small mom-and-pop vendors from food trucks to homespun pottery that are all part of an interconnected and mutually dependent economic web.

For instance, at the Kingston Village Fair outside the central business district of South Kingstown, hundreds of visitors came to feel the historic New England charm amplified by old houses dating to the 1700s, stone-built former jails and library and a stand-alone white steepled congregational church.

One stunning, others might say jarring, contrast is the stately development of the University of Rhode Island located dead center in the village. One feeds off the other in holiday times like this one.

The 50-year village fair tradition once more on Saturday brought people to view the quaint sites, walk along the short streets and get a dose of old-time New England holiday season, though without the snow.

As much as the promotion of the area, there are revenue-generating opportunities for the churches and non-profits in the village. It is comprised more of non-profit organizations than businesses.

This event is larger in scale than Peace Dale Congregational’s open house and brings more coordination for several entities in this village. A look at last Saturday’s list hints at the coordination work necessary.

It includes Kingston Free Library’s Like New Book Sale, South County Art Association’s 52nd Annual Holiday Pottery and Art Sale, Fayerweather Craft Guild’s Christmas in Kingston craft sale and South County History Center’s historical exhibits.

In addition, there’s Kingston Congregational Church’s Bake Sale, Greenery Sale, Luncheon and Storyteller, Tavern Hall’s Open House, Lunch, Historic Walking Tour, The Kingston Hill Gardeners’ various specially made garden-themed gifts, St. Augustine’s Church’s Annual Christmas Craft Fair and The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd’s Annual Christmas Bazaar and Artisan Craft Fair.

“We coordinate both fairs each year — The Kingston Village Spring Fair in May — and the

Kingston Village Holiday Fair the first Saturday in December — to promote the businesses and non-profits in the Village,” said Susan Axelrod of the Kingston Improvement Association (KIA).

Much like the Wakefield Village Association in South Kingstown, The Wickford Village Association in North Kingstown and the Narragansett Chamber of Commerce, the Kingston Improvement Association has become the hub for major holiday extravaganzas in these towns.

They bring the pieces together in similar ways.

“Pulling the fair together is tradition for the KIA — each of our wonderful participants do the heavy lifting of coordinating their own piece of the puzzle,” said Axelrod.

“We contact everyone a few months before the fair to ascertain exactly how each participant will be involved in the fair. Each participant is an independent operator, and each has their own niche,” she said.