40th annual Holiday Bazaar: A shopper’s delight

By Tozi Rubin

Special to The PREVIEW

Mark your calendars now for one of the best holiday shopping opportunities in Pagosa — the 40th annual Holiday Bazaar — to be held on Saturday, Nov. 1, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Community Center.

Once again, the Mountain View Homemakers Club is sponsoring the event. As always, the 52 bazaar booths are sold out to crafters and vendors from all over western Colorado and New Mexico. They will offer a wide variety of unique, handcrafted items for your personal use and for everyone on your holiday shopping list.

Items at this year’s bazaar include pottery, Christmas decor, a wide variety of jewelry, soaps, lotions, fabric art, clothing, quilts, paintings, photography, knitting and crochet, alpaca and llama products, woodworking, herbs and spices, dolls, home decor and bird houses.

The silent auction is very popular with unique and amazing theme baskets and some specialty items, all great as Christmas presents, hostess gifts or as a treat for yourself. There will be a “Buy It Now” price for each piece, as well as the typical silent bidding process. Get to the silent auction when you arrive in case there is a basket that you truly want. If so, you can purchase it immediately paying the “Buy It Now” price. Silent auction bidding will end at 1 p.m.

Photo courtesy Tozi Rubin
Mary Webb and Liz Schnell sell tasty treats at least year’s Holiday Bazaar, sponsored by the Mountain View Homemakers Club. This year’s event is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 1 at the Ross Aragon Community Center. Proceeds gained by sponsoring the event will benefit a variety of local nonprofits.[/caption]

In addition, there will be a terrific bake sale that always sells out. Come early if you want to purchase one of the specialty cakes, but all day long there will be wonderful homemade cakes, cookies, pies, breads and more. The proceeds from this sale go to the Ruby M. Sisson Memorial Library.

The Pagosa Springs Youth Center operates the café under the direction of Joanne Irons, with proceeds going to that organization. The café menu will offer delicious, homemade refreshments, snacks, beverages and lunch — available throughout the day.

The truly phenomenal part about this bazaar is that, in addition to being the unofficial kickoff to holiday shopping in our community, all of the money raised by booth rental, the silent auction and the 50-50 raffle is returned to community nonprofits.

At its upcoming Nov. 13 meeting, the Homemakers Club will be distributing $5,300 in proceeds from the 2013 annual bazaar to 10 local nonprofits selected by the club’s membership.

All area women are invited to come and join us.