SEQUIM — 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 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 accurate. The first holiday bazaar took place in 2004.
The market will take place in the Shipley Center’s three main rooms from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 921 E. Hammond St., Sequim.
Renner said an older demographic tends to shop at the bazaar on Friday, while all ages turn out on Saturday.
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. 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 Turner. “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 with which she is affiliated, 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 an 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 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.”
