LIHU‘E — As of today, there are only 68 days remaining until Christmas, and Ben Franklin Crafts officials took the lead to open the 2004 holiday circuit of craft fairs by hosting the First Annual Craft Fair at the Kauai
LIHU‘E — As of today, there are only 68 days remaining until Christmas, and Ben Franklin Crafts officials took the lead to open the 2004 holiday circuit of craft fairs by hosting the First Annual Craft Fair at the Kauai Veterans Center.
Combined with the pickup of Krispy Kremes to benefit the family-support group of the Hawaii Army National Guard’s Company A, 2nd Battalion, 299th Infantry Regiment, a steady stream of people flowed through the veterans center from the 9 a.m. opening.
Several shoppers visited that pickup site, inquiring about extra doughnuts, but all of the boxes that lined the meeting room were accounted for, and the shoppers were told extras, if any, would be available later in the day.
In addition to vendors selling their wares, there was a section hosted by Ben Franklin Crafts employees where children and adults could work on take-it-with-you projects such as the popular glass-etching containers.
A bake sale also had a variety of munchies available for shoppers who just needed something to keep the stomach quiet while browsing through the aisles of vendor offerings.
Teri Morita of Ben Franklin Crafts said there were over 40 vendors registered for the event, including about a half a dozen who came over from off-island, a lot of them from O‘ahu.
Morita said the vendors offered a wide variety of items, from jewelry to clothing, with a few already geared towards the holidays, including Halloween and Thanksgiving. Additionally, Morita noted that there were several vendors offering floral arrangements, both live and in silk.
The wooden Christmas ornaments were popular choices for the children to work on, many donning AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) soccer uniforms indicating they had either just completed, or were waiting for, their contests at the neighboring north Vidinha soccer complex.
Xmas Pins from Sew Hawaiian had an advantage, since half of that company’s proprietorship lives in Wailua. Clarice Inouye and Lauren Tamura were busy unpacking their wares to replenish the supply that moved steadily off their tabletop — their pin offerings spanning everything from the upcoming Halloween weekend through Christmas — at reasonable prices.
Tamura said her family comes from Kilauea, and she was happy to come back to Kaua‘i, her most recent visit being for a family reunion in June.
The pair have been doing craft fairs for a couple of years now, and agreed, “It’s a lot of fun.”
Kori Lau of Honolulu had “Beads & Things by Kori,” and said she discovered this event through one of her friends who sent her the application form from Ben Franklin Crafts.
Lau, who is no stranger to traveling to outer-island craft events, said this is her first one for the 2004 holiday circuit. A customer who stopped by to pick up her purchases noted that it was easy to shop, since she made her selections, left them with Lau while she shopped other vendors, and picked them up on her way out.
Cathy Agoot shared a booth adjacent to Vicky Ramos, and lamented the fact that she had to tend the table and could not watch her granddaughter Keyah Agoot compete at the Mokihana Aquatics swimming time trials, or her grandson’s Kapa‘a Pop Warner football game.
Ramos, one of the local vendors, noted that she started a calendar of this year’s craft-fair circuit, noting that this is the second one on her list, with the next one taking place this Saturday, Oct. 23, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Po‘ipu Beach Park.
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) and mailto:dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
