STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
The Peruvian fruitcake was much tastier than the American-style fruitcake that gets kicked around a family Christmas get-togethers.
And the snowman was made not from the snow gently falling outside but from bicycle tire rims and even grain elevator parts.
The Papoose Club Holiday Bazaar is underway in Ketchum this weekend. And, while many shoppers are happily leaving with arms full of Christmas presents, it’s the youth of the Wood River Valley who will benefit in the long run.
The club raised $33,000 last year through the bazaar, Wagon Days pancake breakfast and Webb Plant Sale. And all of it went to causes benefitting youth.
“It’s awesome,” said bazaar organizer Kaz Thea. “And it’s great to have so many people come and shop and love it. We have so many talented vendors here, so many clever people. There are thousands of different things you could buy.”
The 28th annual bazaar runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today—Sunday, Dec. 2—at Hemingway STEAM School in Ketchum. Santa will visit from 1 to 2:30 p.m. There’ll be soup and cookies for sale. And $2 raffle tickets will win some lucky people any one of 40 items from a Sun Valley season ski pass to an oil change.
New this year is a double-wide tent set out in front of the school where glassblowers Narda Pitkethly and Caleb Godwin are helping shoppers blow their own glass balls and vases colored with heaping helpings of different colored glass bits.
The venture was made possible by Idaho BaseCamp, which was gifted a mobile glassblowing furnace. Mat Gershater brought it down from camp atop Trail Creek Summit for the winter. And, since it’s mobile, it’ll be available for glassblowing parties at private homes and glassblowing classes, said Whitney McNees Gershater.
Inside the school, Ann Winters of the Red Penguin showed off her cowboy snowman made out of bike parts and topped with a cowboy hat made of an old baby scale off an old grain elevator.
“I use chains from elevators and metal luminaria containers for the boots—all found objects,” said Winters.
Ashley Delonas, another of 70-plus vendors chosen from 200 applicants, hawked light switch covers made out of polymer clay to which she has overlaid clay vines and owl and camel broaches.
And Kelli O’Keefe of McCall showed off her comfy looking fleece skirts, which she said can be worn over cross-country ski pants or over leggings.
“They’re fun and functional for any outdoor adventure,” she said. “Everyone wears leggings now so these provide another covering, another layer.”
Sylvie Dore of Redwood Fairy presented an array of foods designed to keep colds at bay this winter, ranging from elderberry elixirs to Kimchi and sauerkraut in curry cauliflower, apple and other flavors.
And Cami Horne, an elementary school student, offered samples of her mother’s Keke Navideno, or Christmas Peruvian fruitcake.
The cakes boasted plums, apricots, golden raisins, pineapple, dates, cherries and toasted walnuts, pecans and almonds. And they were topped with sugar coated grapes.
“They’re good for you,” said Horne.
The non-profit Papoose Club, which puts on the bazaar each year, was founded in 1954 by a group of mothers who wanted to take turns babysitting one another’s children so everyone could get their fill of skiing.
In time they decided they wanted to make a difference in the valley, said President Mary Fauth.
The club raised $5,100 at last spring’s Plant Extravaganza at Webb Garden Centers and 13,000 at this fall’s Wagon Days Pancake Breakfast. The bazaar raised $15,000 last year, said Fauth.
Members meet monthly over wine in member’s homes to hear requests from organizations for projects they need funding for.
“We even have kids make requests. It’s awesome because they’re so passionate,” said Angi Hunter, the group’s secretary.
The club has granted funds to school travel clubs and the Wood River Middle School PTA’s Student Enrichment Fund. It’s allocated $2,000 for teachers to purchase art supplies, lab equipment and periodicals for math and social studies. And it’s given $1,500 to purchase tickets so students could attend student matinees staged by Company of Fools.
One teacher asked for money to buy her students copies of “I Am Malala,” written by a Pakistani girl who received a Nobel Prize for her work advocating education for Pakistani girls. Another asked for money for graphic French novels, hoping to make French studies more exciting for her kids.
“We’ve had teachers ask if they can ask for a pencil sharpener. It’s a silly thing but they need it,” said Fauth. “There are so many needs it’s mind boggling.”
In addition, more than 300 youngsters also take part in the club’s annual Kindercup downhill race and Nordic Cup.
“What I like about it is that it not just about writing a check but that you’re giving your time,” said Joyce Fabre. “And that time can be a little or a lot, depending on what kind of time you have.”
“We’re saying, ‘This is our community,’ and we’re raising money to help kids,” added Lee Dabney. “Some of our members don’t even have kids of their own but they realize kids are the future of our community.”