Anyone can have a fuzzy memory about certain things, regardless of their age. But Judy Lange was spot on when she guessed that the Shipley Center Holiday Bazaar has been going for about 20 years.
After checking the Shipley Center’s archives to refresh her own memory, Program Director Reba Renner found that Lange, a member of the Center for 28 years and a board member off and on for the past 10, was pretty spot on. The first holiday bazaar took place in 2004.
The market takes place in the Shipley Center’s three main rooms on the first Friday and Saturday of November. This year’s bazaar will take place Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7-8, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Renner said that an older demographic tends to shop at the bazaar on Friday, while all ages turn out on Saturday.
The Shipley Center is located at 921 E. Hammond St.
Fresh-baked cookies are sold, thanks to the efforts of volunteers, and sometimes there are raffles for mini Christmas trees.
The seasonal marketplace has long been a popular, much-anticipated event. Vendors report that it is one of the most well attended holiday bazaars in the area, Renner said. Most of the vendors are Shipley Center members, and the bazaar gives them a chance to show off their considerable talents while earning a bit of Christmas cash.
“The bazaar was created as a member service,” Renner said. “We do have people who are not members who participate, but I give priority to members.”
There are 36 vendor spaces, she said, but some people book two tables. Some are husband-and-wife teams who each have a table for their individual crafts. For instance, Linda Tartaglino creates art with fused glass while her husband Peter is a woodworker, Renner said. It’s a similar situation with Irene and Robert Turner.
“This is his first year to have his own table,” Renner noted of Robert. “He’s making candle holders out of branches.”
Barbara Sorensen makes a variety of whimsical things. She calls her business Topsy Turvy Ceramics.
“She goes to resale shops or garage sales and buys old ceramics and glues them together in stacks so they become a cake holder or a bird bath,” Renner said. “Her stuff is real fun.”
One woman who knits and crochets and is a regular vendor has no trouble selling her adorable baby toys – a popular one is an octopus – as well as baby sweaters.
Another woman makes reversible quilted bags “that are really beautifully done,” Renner said.
There are all sorts of other things, too, such as aprons, wreaths, lavender-inspired merchandise, “upcycled” clothing, jeweled fingernail files and a few things that are not handcrafted. One woman sells knives to raise money for scholarships that are given through an organization she is affiliated with, Renner said.
Renner carefully screens vendor applicants to keep out anyone who wants to resell for a higher price items that they bought elsewhere.
“I have too many people who want to be in the bazaar that I don’t have room for,” she said. “I want to give people who are at home creating things a chance to have an outlet for that.”
Items that are made by a Shipley Center group headed by Lange will be among the merchandise sold at the holiday bazaar. The group meets two days a week, Lange said, to knit, crochet and embroider. They make such things as table runners, table toppers and placemats.
There have been times when Santa has made an appearance at the holiday bazaar, but this year, the special guest will be pianist Sheila Pfister. She will provide a musical backdrop to the festivities.
While vendors make money from the event, so does the Shipley Center, through the rental of tables at a cost of $55 each. Money raised through table rentals and cookie sales fund advertising for the holiday bazaar, with the remainder going into the General Fund to help support the facility and its programs.
The Shipley Center is a very important place for Lange, a widow who has lived in Sequim for 40 years.
“I love it,” she said, adding that she used to take her husband there before his Alzheimer’s advanced. “There are many of us that are widows and it’s good to be around people who have been through the same things. There’s no clique. Everybody’s friends with everybody. Everybody greets each other. There are hugs. It’s just a really nice place.”
HOLIDAY BAZAARS
The Shipley Center Holiday Bazaar will take place Friday-Saturday, Nov. 7-8, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 921 E. Hammond St.
Here are some of other holiday bazaars taking place in Sequim:
Olympic Peninsula Academy Holiday Bazaar and Vendor Fair
Saturday, Nov. 1
9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
400 N. Second Ave.
Sequim Prairie Grange Holiday Boutique
Saturday, Nov. 1
8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
290 Macleay Road
16th Annual P.E.O. Holiday Bazaar
Saturday, Nov. 8
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sequim Community Church foyer
950 N. Fifth Ave.
*Sponsored by P.E.O. Chapter JC in Sequim, proceeds support education for women
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church 70th Annual Holiday Bazaar
Saturday, Nov. 15
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Photo courtesy Faith Jansen Faith Jansen, a vendor at the Shipley Center Holiday Bazaar, shows off one of her handmade hats.
Photo courtesy Catherine Lanham/ Catherine Lanham poses with some of the sea glass jewelry and shadow box art that she sells at her C Glass table at the Shipley Center Holiday Bazaar.
Photo by Barbara Sorensen/ Freshly baked Christmas cookies – as well as dishes to place them on – can be found at the Shipley Center’s Holiday Bazaar.
Photo courtesy Irene Turner/ Irene Turner’s pincushions in delicate teacups are among the unique items that can be purchased at the Shipley Center’s Holiday Bazaar.
Photo by Reba Renner/ Judy Lange stands in the craft store at the Shipley Center amid items made by the fiber arts group she leads. Items from the store will be sold at the Shipley Center Holiday Bazaar scheduled for Nov. 7-8.
Photo courtesy Faith Jansen/ Shipley Center member Faith Jansen shows off samples of the type of clothing items she sells at the senior center’s annual Holiday Bazaar.
