Remembering the old, small town church bazaar

A friend called me recently to share her experiences at a well-known church bazaar in the Lower Mainland.

If you’re too young to remember these community fundraisers or have never attended one, think of them as the pre-cursor to today’s artisan craft shows and makers’ markets.

As craft show season throughout the Okanagan Valley begins in earnest, memories of going to bazaars—in church basements, school gyms, and hockey arenas—have been popping up.

The seasonal bazaar, in its heyday, blended community spirit and tradition together. Usually a fundraiser for charitable programs or for the host venue so it could be well-maintained, bazaars may have included live music, activities for the kids—who else remembers going to the “fishing” booth to win a prize?—card tournaments, raffles, puppet theatre, a swap meet or a “white elephant” sale, talent shows, afternoon social teas or hot meal options.

Rooted in agriculture, in the early 1900s church bazaars in the Okanagan began as small gatherings often organized by women’s groups. Harvest bazaars, timed to celebrate the end of the growing season, allowed farmers and orchardists to bring their produce to sell. The first farmers’ markets, one might say.

By the 1930s, Kelowna’s St. Michael’s Church bazaar was a staple, with community members traveling from nearby farms and towns to attend, providing financial support for the region.

I’m told that the Church of St. Andrew in Okanagan Falls became particularly famous for its raffle baskets, with people looking forward to the chance to win one sometimes lining up hours before the event began.

Though they’ve evolved with modern conveniences, have expanded to numerous venues and the charitable element has perhaps become an afterthought, the essence of the bazaar remains the same—a joyful marketplace where homemade items are plentiful and you may run into friends you haven’t seen in a while or bond with strangers over a display of handmade knitting.

While the word “bazaar” comes from Persian and refers to a town’s public market district, Wikipedia suggests it was first attached to the words charity, or church, in the Victorian era, meaning “fancy fair.”

While attending university in Ottawa years ago, the Ukrainian couple who rented me a room would sometimes take me to their church’s winter bazaar. I always went for the large plate of perogies smothered in homemade mushroom gravy. I also came home with loads of treats and squares to get me through exam season.

And one year, I got a small glass ornament with a hand painted dove and the word “peace” in glitter lettering, which I bring out every year.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.