Family & Community Education hosts 49th annual bazaar
Hand-crafted gift items and baked goods will be up for sale Saturday in an annual bazaar that raises money for scholarships for the Yuma area’s high school and college students.
The Yuma Civic Center, 1440 W. Desert Hills Drive, will open its doors at 9 a.m. for the 49th annual Community Bazaar organized by the Southwest Association for Family & Community Education.
The bazaar brings together vendors from around the area and region offering such items as jewelry, ceramics, wood carvings and walking sticks, photography, fused glass art, plants and paper crafts, as well as baked goods and a limited selection of other food items, says Margaret Polen, president of the association.
“There’s just a wide variety (of goods), but everything has to be handmade and homemade,” Polen said.
People who are shopping for Christmas gifts can find all kinds of items, she said. “We have over a hundred vendors, so there’s a variety.
Regulations do not allow a full range of food items to be sold, she said, but visitors can get such treats as baked goods and peanut brittle. “A couple of ladies come with the best pumpkin rolls you’ve ever eaten.”
Selling items are both private vendors and clubs and non-profit organizations raising money for their programs and functions, Polen said.
“Some of these vendors do this all over the country. This is one of the events they come to.”
The Pecan Grove Garden Club typically brings artfully crafted birdhouses to the bazaar for sale, while Desert Lily Quilters will sell quilts to make money for Project Linus, which delivers blankets to children in need.
The vendors keep all the money they earn from sales, Polen said, while the Family & Community Education chapter makes money from the event by renting tables to them.
“We give about half of what we make toward scholarships for graduating seniors in Yuma County, or even adults from Yuma County who are already in college or trade school.”
A portion also goes for leadership training provided by FCE, a nationwide volunteer organization whose mission is to resolve family issues before they become societal problems. The remaining proceeds cover the association’s costs in putting on the sale.
Polen said the bazaar typically attracts several thousand shoppers, many of whom come to the civic center after having watched the Saturday morning launch of the Colorado River Crossing Balloon Festival, which happens the same weekend.
Saturday’s sale continues until 3 p.m.
Formerly the Yuma County Association for Family & Community Education, the Yuma chapter will hit a milestone a year from now when the 50th annual bazaar takes place.
“We’ve already started working on some additions and working to see what splash we can do,” Polen said.
Vendors have until Friday morning to rent a table. Call 928-726-7456.