Christmas Crafts and Unique Gifts Bring Holiday Shoppers to Stop1Shop at Knights of Columbus

[November 28, 2023]     Christmas shopping season began in earnest this past weekend, and the Knights of Columbus Ladies Auxiliary once again provided a one-stop destination for shoppers looking for hand-crafted gifts and direct sales items.

Chairperson Michelle Bauer said that the Auxiliary intentionally chooses to hold Stop1Shop “in conjunction with Small Business Saturday because in-home businesses and crafters are small businesses, too.”

Initially started as a spring event scheduled near Easter, the event moved to the Christmas season eight years ago to avoid Lenten and wedding season scheduling conflicts at the Knights of Columbus. Stop1Shop is also a fundraiser for the Auxiliary scholarship fund which provides college scholarships to high school seniors. Money from booth rentals supports the scholarship fund, and vendor profits stay with the vendors. Bauer stated that they wanted to create a fundraiser that also met a need.

Bauer said that the event had good steady traffic all morning. Shoppers enjoyed perusing over 25 vendor booths and visiting with the sellers, many of whom come every year.

Sharon Cahill always crochets delightful miniature animals, figures, ornaments, and toys. This year she added birds, jellyfish and octopi, flower babies, indoor snowballs, and Christmas mice to the crochet collection.

Erin Solomon of Giggles and Gab brought some glamorous jewelry this year to sell alongside her artfully-arranged, custom-made gift baskets ready for any special occasion.

The Ladies Auxiliary also provided lunch items for purchase, and Sharon Cahill made a batch of her delectably mouth-watering caramels as a fundraiser raffle once again.

[Stephanie Hall]