The basement of St. Edward’s Catholic Church in Bristol was jammed on Saturday afternoon as more than 70 people gathered for the triumphant return of a long-standing tradition, the Christmas tea and bazaar.
Lyse Lacourse, an organizer and longtime parishioner, said the annual gathering has been going on for more than 50 years, though their last one was in 2019 due to the pandemic.
“We’ve always had a tea, that I can remember,” she said.
Lacourse said that she and her fellow organizers wanted to bring back the tradition and many parishioners pitched in to make it a success.
“I want to thank the parish people of the community, because they went above and beyond the call of duty,” she said. “To resurrect something is not always easy because we’ve lost a lot of our key members. It’s very touching to see everybody here.”
She said that with the wide variety of other Christmas markets in the area, they would forgo the bake sale that they usually put on, but were raffling off a number of gift baskets.
Lacourse said that they brought in more than $1,000, and all funds raised would go towards the church’s general operating expenses.
