By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

With fall weather in the air, there’s no place like a church bazaar to warm up, get fed, and stock up on winter goodies for the cold months ahead. Trinity Lutheran Church in New York Mills will be hosting their annual Fall Bazaar on Saturday, Nov. 23 with doors opening at 9 a.m.

The bazaar will feature a large variety of baked goods, handmade crafts, gift baskets, canned goods, Christmas decor, cookie boxes and much more. Coffee, juice and doughnuts will be available from 9-10:30 a.m. and a chili lunch will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The silent auction will be available to bid on items until 12:30 p.m.

The bazaar’s history goes back at least 50 years and is hosted by the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML) to support missionary projects throughout the year. 

Karen Brasel, one of the organizers of the bazaar, said that it is also a congregational event, so it’s not just LWML hands that pull it all together.

“We ask people from the congregation to work as cashiers and work the kitchen and do different things,” said Brasel. “Years ago we used to have people bring hot dishes and salads, but we can’t do that anymore. People have really been great, we’ve got over 50 silent auction items already of many different varieties of things.

“People have been making wreaths, jars of different mixes of soup, cookies and brownies, different craft things,” she continued. “We’ve got some mystery bags for kids a couple of us have made, there’s always all the baked goods and candies and produce that people bring. A lot of craft things that won’t be on the silent auction, they’ll be up for sale. Some of us are making cookies baskets with a dozen different cookies in each, that’s something new we’re doing this year.”

The proceeds from the bazaar go to fund a variety of different mission projects through the year including local projects: Lutheran Island Camp camperships, Trinity preschool, Bibles for the third graders, Open Youth Room, Santa Anonymous, Relay for Life and the youth that attend the National Youth Gathering. For mission projects that make an impact in a more global sense include the NY Mills LWML’s support for the adopt-a-seminarian program, adopted student in Haiti, and the support of two global missionaries.

“We support other things, but those are some of the main things the money goes for,” said Brasel. “We also stock our kitchen items from the funds.”

Brasel also said that attendees can expect everything from baked goods to crafted items to gifts for everyone along with a chili lunch and time to visit with friends from around the community. Brasel has been involved with the LWML and the annual bazaar for roughly 40 years and always looks forward to seeing what each year will bring.

“My favorite part is visiting with all the people that come from our church, from the community, from the area,” Brasel said. “It’s just fun to see everybody come and be a part of it. It’s amazing to see all the talent that God has given to people and they use their abilities—whether it’s baking or crafting or making silent auction baskets—there’s always new things every year. We’re excited because this is so much fun. We hope and pray people will come and check things out.”