YMCA’s annual holiday craft fair returns 

Dec 12, 2021

Wareham shoppers who missed last weekend’s holiday fair extravaganza — or who simply realized they had a bit more shopping to do — had another chance to pick up a variety of holiday goodies at a holiday craft fair on Saturday, Dec. 11. 

From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, the Gleason Family YMCA opened its doors to 34 vendors and many more shoppers. 

Cathy Longfield, the Y’s special events coordinator, said the fair had seen a “steady flow of traffic” throughout the morning. 

The fair was a regular annual event that started in 2016 — until the pandemic canceled the fair in 2020, she said. 

Seven or eight of the vendors were people who’ve sold at the Y holiday craft fair before, she said. Others were new to the YMCA fair. 

Because this year’s fair was near the end of the season, Longfield said vendors were excited to have another chance to sell their merchandise before the holidays. 

Shoppers — including some YMCA members — were just as excited. 

“Some of our members — when I came in this morning, I saw them coming in at 8 o’clock,” Longfield said. “They were like ‘well, we’re timing it, so we’re done by 9 to do some shopping.’” 

She was also excited that the Kono Pizza food truck agreed to be on-site to provide food for both vendors and shoppers. 

Vendors paid a fee for their table space at the fair, and Longfield said nearly every artist also donated a piece for the Y’s raffle. 

“All that money just goes toward our annual campaign,” she said. The campaign is responsible for providing things like “financial assistance for our summer care program” or “membership for people who need a discount.”