Arts & Leisure
Annual IWCNE Holiday Fair promises festive day for all on Nov. 11
By Rose Safran
This year's International Women's Club of New England (IWCNE) Holiday Fair, featuring at least 40 tables of antiques, collectibles, crafts, jewelry, international items, textiles and much more, will be held on Saturday, Nov. 11, at York Middle School. Pictured is Berri Kramer of Kennebunkport at a past event. Kramer will return this year with unique note cards and pictures from South Africa.
Courtesy photo
YORK VILLAGE - The International Women's Club of New England (IWCNE) began its annual Holiday Fair several years ago, holding it in various facilities in York.
Most recently, the organization settled on having the popular event in the commons of the York Middle School at 84 Organug Road, where it will again take place, notably on Saturday, Nov. 11, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The spacious, well-lit room, the excellent parking at the school, the kitchen facilities available, and the York Village location promise, once again, to contribute to making the day a festive and successful one for those who attend as well as for the IWCNE. The event raises money for the IWCNE, a non-profit organization that contributes to helping needy women and children by donating cash gifts to various charities such as A Safe Place, Caring Unlimited, Fair Tide, Sustainable Harvest, Seeds of Peace, Biddeford Free Clinic, Bridges of Learning, Ethel's Tree of Life, York County Shelters and many others.
Each year, the organization gives at least $5,000 - all of it raised through various member-sponsored events such as this annual Holiday Fair.
Through the sale of beautiful holiday greens including unique decorative table arrangements and Christmas wreaths, a raffle and lunch items including homemade soups and a special bake table with delicious cakes and other sweets, as well as through hand-crafted original gifts, the IWCNE always turns a profit at its Holiday Fair. Additionally, the organization also raises money by renting tables for this event to professional vendors selling a variety of merchandise including antiques and collectibles, international items, New England crafts, jewelry, prints, paintings, hand-made ornaments, etc.
Last year's event was so successful that this year, there will be an expanded number of professional vendors. Altogether, as of this date, 40 tables have been spoken for, with some dealers renting than one table.
Local York, Kittery and Portsmouth, N.H.-based vendors, as well as those from relatively far-flung towns in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts, will be present. Among the many repeat vendors from last year will be York's Lee Regan-Jacks, with unusual antiques including many of her carefully-selected country items sold in her Old Post Road shop known as Dusted Things and Daisies, Berri Kramer of Kennebunkport, who is bringing unique note cards and pictures from South Africa, and Eleanor Martell of York with tole painting.
New vendors will include Kittery's Haley Farm Gallery, which will bring fine paintings and prints and handmade textiles from its attractive gallery and shop. Among the large variety of merchandise for sale will be general antiques and collectibles including glassware, linens and other home furnishings textiles, pottery, china, tins and pewter, jewelry, both antique and hand-crafted, as well as a variety of prints and paintings, cards, ornaments, hand-painted boxes, painted-slate wall hangings, photography, dog "treats," hand-knit hats and other fabric items, shaker baskets, dolls, buttons, candles, mirrors, folk art, crochet doilies, bird items, frames, etc.
Raffle tickets will also be sold at the event and prizes awarded towards the end of the festive day. The IWCNE members look forward to this event, a tune-up for the Christmas season, and invite one and all to attend.
Membership is open in this women's club, which was founded in 1992 by York resident Anna Kristina Sawtelle and is affiliated with Welcome Clubs International, which has
clubs all over the world. The IWCNE holds monthly luncheons, fundraising pot-luck dinners at members' homes, foreign film evenings, French and German-speaking luncheons, musical soirees, an annual yard sale, book club and current events discussions. For further information, call 439-8884.
