There has been a fundraising tradition at Riverside Public School for 29 years with the Country Craft and Bake Sale and that tradition continues to grow.
The school hosted the annual event on Saturday. Organizer Tracy Fiddler said they started relatively small, but interest has grown to the point where she’s been asked to add a second floor.
“Originally it was only 30 tables set up in the gym was the very first year,” Fiddler said. “Now we have 108 tables (and) I don’t have any more space to put anybody.”
Every year Riverside puts the craft sale proceeds back into the school.
“This craft fair we want to buy new playground equipment, so everything that we make this year will go towards replacing playground equipment,” Fiddler said.
“All the sales from the vendor tables, all that will go towards funding for the playgrounds,” she added.
For all 29 years of the sale the proceed have gone back into the school. It was hard to find a parking spot on Saturday. Fiddler said it was nice to see how well the event continues to be supported.
“It’s a bonus,” she said.
“I just would like to thank the community for supporting our school,” she added.
Fiddler said the idea for a craft and bake sale came about when the school was a community school. Delphine Melchert who was the school coordinator who got parents together to host a sale with 30 tables.
Fiddler said that several vendors have been around since the first edition.
“It just kept growing and growing,” she explained. “I was on parent council and would come here and was at the first sale as a vendor myself because I was just new to the community.
“We just bought a house and I thought, ‘Oh, a craft sale. I’m going to come and go do the craft sale,’ and I’ve been attached to the school ever since.”
The vendors ran the gamut for items that people could purchase. The list includes popcorn, rock crystals, jams, crochet and knitting, and baking.
They continue to grow and use everything possible to raise funds for the school.
Fiddler said planning for the 30th edition was going to start when the 29th ended.
“I have a waiting list for people to get in here,” she said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
