NEWELL—Holiday shopping came early to Newell, but it has been for the past 59 years! The annual Christmas Fair is a tradition that brings everyone together to prepare for the holidays. The fair took place on October 15 at the City Hall.
This annual event has been hosted by the Butte County CFEL Extension Club for over half a century. The event draws vendors from all over the area, as far away as Newcastle, WY. The Christmas Fair has something for everyone, including all kinds of special crafts just in time for Christmas giving. The vendors offered a variety of products including houseplants, books, cookies, candies, homemade jams and jellies, handcrafted sugar scrubs and hand-knitted items. “We had 16 vendors this year,” shared Judy Heisler, event coordinator.
Turnout was down this year, but the school district takes the time to bring kids to the event and allow them to shop for Christmas gifts for family members if they would like to. “The kitchen didn’t serve many—I mean, we’ve served as many as 85 and we had 16 or 20 today,” explained Heisler. “We’ve had all the school kids down here—the school cooperated with us and let the kids come down.”
The event is a fundraiser to raise money for college scholarships to local students. They give away one or two $300 scholarships to high school seniors each year. The money can be used at any higher education institution, from a tech school to a four-year college.
Each year, door prizes are given out to lucky visitors and raffle tickets are sold for a chance to win a variety of gift baskets.
The Extension Club served a lunch of sloppy Joes, beans and chips, with cookies for dessert and apple cider to drink.
According to Heisler, the club currently has eight to ten members. But even with the small workforce, they managed to raise over $1,100 at the craft fair. They use the money raised to help out area organizations and spread goodwill. Some of the causes they support, in addition to the high school scholarships, include monetary donations to different area volunteer fire departments and the Newell Library. They also provide meals for the elderly and shut-ins and take baked treats to them during the holidays. The Butte County CFEL Extension Club is involved in many things around the area.
They are always looking for new members. The group meets on the first Friday of each month at the NVN Center in Newell. For more information, follow the Tot ‘N Twenty CFEL on Facebook.
See more pictures and read the full issue of the Belle Fourche Beacon by clicking here.
