STERLING — November will see the return of the annual Friends of the Conant Public Library Arts & Crafts Show, where a plethora of holiday and gift items, as well as food offerings, will be available in the main hall of the First Church.
All the items at the juried fair, set for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 19, are handmade by local craftspeople and artists, and will include dish gardens and planters, photography, soaps, hand-painted wine bottles with lights and glass ornaments, jewelry, caned chairs, wooden signs, felted trees, pottery, crocheted beanies and scarves, alpaca clothing, knitted accessories and teddy bears, aromatherapy pillows, candles, jams and jellies, dog cookies and more.
In addition, there will be raffles, a lunch café, and wrapped cheese and baked goods for sale. The $2 admission supports programs at the Conant Public Library; anyone who would like more information can email sterlingcraftfair@gmail.com.
The fair is all booked this year for vendors, and there is a waiting list, a true sign of the popularity of the typically well-attended event that has become a mainstay in the community. The two women at the helm, Barbara Baley and Nancy Billings, have a combined nearly nine decades of life as town residents and are both FOL board members.
They have co-chaired the craft fair for the last several years, and said it typically attracts more than 500 attendees.
“The fair is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy and give back to the Sterling community,” Baley said, and Billings added that she thinks “the best part of being involved in this fair is the community involvement and being able to carry on the yearly tradition.”
“It really takes a village to come together to hold this event,” Billings said. “Our relatives come and help, and my own grandchildren look forward to it every year.”
The army of dedicated volunteer helpers includes members of Y.A.H.O.O., who arrive at 7:30 a.m. the day of the fair to carry goods into the church hall, and local Boy Scouts, who help with setup and cleanup.
“We have bakers, skilled people to help with marketing and graphics, and volunteers who are willing to give us a few hours of their time to man the ticket sales, serve in the café or handle the raffle table,” Billings said. “That doesn’t include all the board members who have their roles, such as signage, communicating with vendors, organizing volunteers, baking, and fair layout.”
Both women joined the board when they retired and said they are happy to give back to their own community in this way.
“I enjoy being involved in the community and helping to support library programs like the summer reading initiative,” said Baley, a 43-year town resident. “Also, I have always been an avid baker, even having friends and board members over to bake. This has helped supply the variety of tea breads we sell at the fair.”
She said they are always looking for more FOL board members, and they welcome anyone to join them at their meetings the second Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Baker Room of the library.
Billings echoed her sentiments, saying they “always welcome new members to our board,” and that in the 45 years she has lived in Sterling and raised three daughters with her husband, she remembers taking her children to the craft fair many times when they were growing up.
“I remember attending the fair at the First Church when my children were young, but it vanished from the scene for quite a while,” she said. “It was an event I looked forward to every year. At that time, it was not sponsored by the Friends. Almost 20 years ago, as remembered by a board member, the fair was revived by members of the board. It has steadily grown since then, with last year being the most successful both in attendance and funds raised.”
Funds raised in the past have been used to purchase a new, larger book return box, replace the library’s phone system, buy an air purifier during COVID, and purchase supplies and books for the children’s, 100 books, and adult summer reading programs. Money raised is also put toward adult yoga classes, ebooks, ancestry.com and other resources, and museum passes to Davis Farmland, the EcoTarium, the Museum of Russian Icons, and more.
“The residents of Sterling are very supportive of the Conant Library and all its programs,” said FOL membership committee member Dotty Kormeluk. “The materials and programs offered by the Friends would not be possible without the generous donations of our membership.”
Leominster Credit Union is cosponsoring the fair this year, an iconic event that Billings said, “is part of what makes Sterling, Sterling.”
“People are proud of this town and all it has to offer, and they look forward to attending year in and year out,” she said. “From baked goods and cheese to our café offerings to all the artisan goods, it is a festive event that also succeeds in raising funds for our summer reading program. At the end, we are all exhausted but extremely proud and happy to hold a cherished holiday fair for the people of Sterling.”
