Our 2018 fall fair was held on Saturday, November 17, 2018 and it certainly provided us with lots of reasons to celebrate. This year saw the addition of a book room, expanded treasure rooms and new lunch menu in addition to our traditional offerings. These additions were well received with our guests and we plan to continue them in 2019.
Many members of our congregation came together to create a wonderful inventory of handmade items for our craft tables. Visitors commented on the quality of our items and how nicely they were displayed. The tables were very successful and left little to pack up for next year. 2019 will be busy for our crafters.
An influx of new visitors to the fair gave us reason to celebrate. A $100 donation was spent on Facebook advertising in addition to the advertisement in the local paper. Our missions welcome table reported that most of our visitors said they saw us on Facebook. The ad also contributed to an uptick in followers on our church Facebook page. We plan to expand this type of advertising next year.
Another year and another successful not-so-silent auction. Raising over $1,500.00, the auction continues to be a large contributor to our bottom line. We received several donations from local businesses this year and we will continue to expand on that idea in 2019.
The book and treasure rooms were great additions to our fair. They allowed us to keep the focus upstairs on handmade items while downstairs we catered to our visitors who love to find a deal. The Christmas items sold particularly well and we will be sure to set aside space again next year. The book room had a wide variety of books to choose from and there were some exciting reports of rare book sightings. We were able to donate all the leftover books to a program called The Million Book Project. This organization donates the books back into the community through nursing homes, child care centers, veteran services and others in need. These donations reduce waste in our landfills and help spread the joy of books.
The 2018 fair raised $6,296.24 and had minimal expenses. While we consider this an overwhelming success, please remember that success isn’t always about how much money we raise. It can be measured by the amount of new people who walked into our church, the joy that filled our halls, how well we worked as a team and the new friendships we made along the way.
Thank you to everyone for your contributions to our fair this past year. We are excited and optimistic about the possibilities that lie ahead in 2019.
Respectfully, Hope Cahill