POA bazaar bigger than ever
The POA Christmas bazaar is growing this year, Riordan Hall manager Cathy Wilmoth said. It will take place on Saturday, Nov. 11, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
“This will be the biggest bazaar ever,” she said, “We’ve opened up all the rooms.”
In previous years, only the auditorium was used for the bazaar. This year, the crafts room and the meeting rooms will be open as well.
About 50 local vendors will be on hand with everything from handcrafted Christmas ornaments to farm-fresh eggs, she said. Although some vendors will have manufactured products, most are handmade, she said. She chose vendors who had a wide range of products.
Michelle Chiocco of the Carriage Trade has a store in Bella Vista, but it’s not in a great location, she said. She likes to attend local events so she can let people know about the store, which is on Oldham Road. But she’ll also have products to sell at the bazaar.
“We have body butters, sugar scrubs, shaving cream, which is very popular among men, bath bombs and Lampe Berger.”
Lampe Berger, she explained, is a line of fragrance lamps that were originally developed to clean the scent out of air in hospitals and morgues.
All her products are handcrafted in small batches for quality control.
For Christmas, she has soap shaped and colored to look like a lump of coal and officially-licensed Razorback soaps.
John Brach, president of the Woodcarvers Club, is bringing his wood products to the bazaar. He was at the fall craft fair at Spanker Creek and at the farmers market most of the summer.
At the bazaar, he’ll have handmade wooden puzzles, pendants and décor items.
For Brach, it’s as much about visiting as it is about selling. He enjoys telling people about his woodworking, and he’s always recruiting new members for the Woodcarvers Club which meets every Thursday afternoon in Riordan Hall. The club teaches woodworking whenever possible, as well, he said. He just finished teaching a Cub Scout troop, he said.