Buffalo Mall hosts Church Bazaar

Baked goods, crafts and gifts await those attending the annual Church Bazaar at the Buffalo Mall from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

“The weather starts changing and customers are looking for something to do, and the mall always wants to be community-minded,” said Deb Thompson of IRET Properties, which owns the mall.

At least 10 booths will be featured at the annual event.

Most — but not all — will be staffed by volunteers from churches in Jamestown, such as Trinity Lutheran Church, the Salvation Army, First Congregational Church, New Hope Free Lutheran Church and Grace Episcopal Church. In addition, United Way will have a booth, as well the Jud United Methodist Church.

“We’ve done it for many years,” said LaVina Kleese, one of several volunteers who will be staffing the booth for St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.

St. Paul’s will feature baked goods, and there will be some crafts as well. Some people are making lefse for the event and others will bring kuchen — that’s the best seller for St. Paul’s.

“We’re going to have a bake sale. We’ll have homemade noodles, homemade buns and different varieties of baking,” said Shirley Unverferth, a member of the Women of St. John’s, a group from St. John’s Lutheran Church.

The St. John’s booth will also have embroidered dish towels, cards and napkins for sale, as well as high-quality knives and cutlery.

During the event, the James River Humane Society will sell walking tacos and beverages for $5 as a fundraiser, and at 1 p.m., Pearl Silzy and her piano students will begin a piano recital.

“Every one of the booths is going to be offering a wide variety (of items), each unique, and they’re going to promote their own booth their own way,” Thompson said. “I would just encourage everyone to go and visit all booths.”

Sun reporter Kari Lucin can be reached at 701-952-8453 or by email at klucin@jamestownsun.com

Tags: life, religion