November 23 brought around again, one of 亚洲天堂 Lake's most well attended events of the year. Surprisingly, most people probably don't even realize that at least for the past three decades, this event wouldn't even have happened, if not for the efforts of the 亚洲天堂 Lake Public Library and the community's volunteers.
Does anyone remember the craft fair's earliest days, when it was held in the Heritage Building? Only about 20 tables could fit in, but even then, it was heavily attended. It was only held there for two years as it quickly outgrew the venue.
From there, it was moved to the CNC stage/gym area, but within 2 years it outgrew itself once again. The old LDSS high school was the next venue, where it remained until the new high school was built. At the old LDSS high school we were able to fit a full 50 tables in, but even at that, there was never a year that there wasn't a waiting list. As it is now, it was then, first come, first served.
It was a different time and a different craft fair at the old LDSS gym. There were no Costco's or Walmart or even Wholesale Clubs. It was pretty much Fields or Home Hardware if you wanted to buy Christmas items in 亚洲天堂 Lake. Those were crazy fun days to be a vendor at the craft fair! The doors to the gym had to be either manned before opening, or locked. We literally couldn't keep the public out, folks were so excited to see all the local handcrafted items. When the doors would open at 9:00a.m., the line of people waiting went from the gym doors, out into the lobby and all the way out to the parking lot!! For the first hour, people would be four deep in front of your table. People would stand on tiptoe trying to see over the people in front of them, as to what all was on the vendor's table. It wasn't uncommon to hear, 鈥淥h, I saw something back over there and I should have bought it! I don't want to fight the crowd to go back and get it!鈥�
But, for the organizers it was chaotic. Just one of the difficulties we worked with was power source 鈥� still a bit of a problem to this day! Back then, vendors were allowed to use a power source for more than just lighting, as it is now. Problem was, crock pots were quite popular back then and vendors would bring them to heat up foods they had prepared for sale 鈥� or even just their own lunch. We were constantly blowing fuses 鈥� which led to that option being rescinded. That was also before the days of heavily monitored Food Preparation Certification.
There was one more glitch in relocating the craft fair to its current home of the new LDSS high school gym. Does anyone remember the first two years of the fair being held in the new high school? We had to set up the vendor tables all along the main floor hallways. We weren't allowed to use the gym, because they had no covering for the floors, and the plastic we used in the old gym, was no longer allowed to be used.
Once LDSS obtained floor covering, we were able to make use of the gym. There, we managed to increase our table count to 62, where it remains today. With the large lobby we are now able to bring in Santa for photos and even various entertainment can be brought in. Seniors can now sit comfortably in the cafeteria area while taking in the entertainment and enjoying home cooked goodies, from chili and hot dogs to all kinds of baking and sweets.
The organizers wouldn鈥檛 be able to do this without the vendors that are willing to put in the effort year after year, to create the foundation of this craft fair, which is focused solely on handcrafted items. This quality event has achieved the honor of being the second largest craft fair in the north, outside of Prince George.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
