Otter Lake’s annual November holiday vendor market was such a success this year its organizer decided to throw another one, which took place Saturday at the town’s Raymond Johnston Community Centre.
The market’s first round, which took place on Nov. 2, saw so much interest from vendors many of them were moved to a waitlist in case a spot opened up.
“[The vendors] asked if I would be interested in doing another so they could attend and some of the regular vendors also wanted to do another, so this was the first time we did two in a season,” said Crystal Dubeau, who organized the market this year.
“This is a great place to showcase our products and it has always been important for me to show off the local talent with the vendors that are part of the show.”
It was Chassidy Moorhead’s first-time at the market on Saturday. She has been making signs and crafts with her Cricut machine which she got as a gift four years ago.
“I heard about the December market from my brother,” Moorhead said. “He said the November one did so great that they were going to do a second one.”
This was Moorhead’s fourth time participating in a market and she said it was nice to see the community come out to support the vendors.
“You get to meet so many new faces and you become friends with some of the other vendors in the market which can help you to learn about other markets are coming up in the community,” she said.
Dubeau said that she used to attend the market organized by the church as a business owner, and took over organizing the market 14 years ago and soon after moved it to the Raymond Johnston Community Centre to accommodate more vendors.
“At the RA hall, we have more room and it was easier for the elderly people to attend because at the church, it was held in the basement,” Dubeau said.
The November market helped to raise funds for Operation Christmas Child. Shoeboxes were filled with gifts, hygiene items and school supplies to be distributed to kids around the world. The second market hosted on Saturday was a fundraiser for both Smiles for Seniors, which works to help seniors experiencing isolation, as well as for making care boxes for the homeless.
Dubeau said that this market came together very quickly with only three weeks of planning. She also introduced a gift exchange Saturday where participants brought in a gift valued at around $20, and were allowed to leave with a gift bought by somebody else.
“They got a numbered card so that they could come back near the end of the show to exchange it for a new gift,” Dubeau said. “We had 25 participants so it was a lot of fun and many vendors participated.”
