Warmer weather spurs better turnout for school craft fair, garage sale
Although Saturday provided a slow start to two days of festivities for St. Andrew Catholic School, the warmer temperatures brought in a steady crowd of people browsing and purchasing items on Sunday.
The 18th annual Craft Fair for St. Andrew and the second annual Garage Sale fundraiser for the Patron of the Arts Program featured various vendors providing goodies to kick off the holiday season of shopping.
Volunteer and parent Lori Rieselman said Sunday went a lot better than Saturday, which she believed was because of the cool weather Southwest Florida experienced Saturday.
“By 10 this morning, I knew we were doing better,” she said.
Patron of the Arts Program President Pam Ferrari said the program is a group of volunteers who support art, music, media, TV production, Odyssey of the Mind and drama. She explained that the program has provided St. Andrew with new televisions for TV productions, a new smart board and books for the media center.
“We do all kinds of things,” Ferrari said about the Patron of the Arts Program. “We do things above and beyond the school budget.”
The Garage Sale featured merchandise from various families to help raise funds for the program. Ferrari explained that the Garage Sale helps families clean out their closets, while providing St. Andrew with the opportunity to gain money in a period when funds are not high.
As of noon on Sunday, Ferrari said the sale was going pretty well.
“All the furniture went right away,” she said.
Rieselman said there was a steady flow of people browsing through the Garage Sale and they were purchasing a lot of items.
She hopes the Garage Sale will continue to grow every year to bring the community together for the school- oriented event.
The items that were not sold during the Garage Sale will be donated to St. Vincent de Paul.
The Craft Fair was featured outside and inside with an abundance of vendors selling their unique crafts.
Dick Beautz, was among the vendors showcasing his new-found hobby of creating garden pieces out of various dishes, bowls and glasses he finds at the Kiwanis Thrift Store and Goodwill. His business, Garden Reflections, began two months ago by accident after he began playing with different glass pieces and started creating art pieces out of them.
“They are unique,” he said about his creations.”Everything is different, I don’t think I could make two the same.”
When Beautz begins creating one of his Garden Reflection pieces, he explained that he sits down in his work area in the garage and places different pieces together before he applies glue. When he likes one of his creations he starts with the base, which is either a glass bottle or a vase and then places a dish on the first layer, so he can apply the glue to make it stick together.
ince the process takes about an hour and a half to dry of each level of his creations, he typically builds three or four at a time. After he is done with one piece, he lets it sit for 24-hours to let the glue dry completely.
Beautz explained that he enjoys his newhobby because he likes seeing what the outcome is of every piece he makes.
For more information about his sparkling garden pieces and bird houses contact Beautz by phone at (239) 458-7330 or through email at rbeautz@aol.com.
Another craft vendor who had a booth set up at the event was Patti Lewis, owner of Designs by Patti Lewis. The Cape Coral resident had silk arrangements, baskets, bows and wreaths set up on Saturday and Sunday.
She explained that the creations and re-facing of wreaths began as a hobby before it turned into a part-time job.
Lewis said she enjoys making an appearance at Craft Fairs because it gives her an opportunity to show the public what she is capable of, along with seeing what other individuals are creating.
For more information about her creations or to place a special order call Lewis at (239) 994-6085 or email plewis1002@aol.com.