KALAHEO — The aroma of freshly baked bread wafting through the parking lot at the Holy Cross Church in Kalaheo was the indication women from the Holy Cross Altar Society were hard at work preparing for the bazaar which opens
KALAHEO — The aroma of freshly baked bread wafting through the parking lot at the Holy Cross Church in Kalaheo was the indication women from the Holy Cross Altar Society were hard at work preparing for the bazaar which opens Saturday at 7 a.m.
“People are already in line at 6:30 and keep asking us to open the doors early,” said Loretta Blackstad. “But 7 a.m. is 7 a.m.”
The Portuguese sweet bread baked by the society members is one of the draws of the annual fund-raising event. Glenda Vierra was overseeing the preparation, Thursday, checking on a batch of dinner rolls cooking in a commercial stove in the Holy Cross kitchen.
“The recipe came about because I used to be a bakery,” Vierra said in a soft voice. “We used to have Mary’s Malasadas in Kalihi before we moved back.”
That move to Kaua‘i was a blessing for the society who kept asking her to “come bake bread with us.”
“We’re so lucky she came back home,” said a society member, noting that Vierra has been supervising the baking for the past four years for the bazaar.
The baking bee in preparation for the Saturday bazaar was not all work as society members had time to reminisce about the times when baking was a necessity.
“We have time to sit around because the bread needs to cool down before we bag and price them,” one member said between sips of coffee. “I remember when we used to bake bread all the time. Today, it’s too easy to just go out and buy.”
Blackstad said in addition to the baked goods, the bazaar offers crafts, assorted pickles and jams, fresh vegetables, plants, and fresh fruit.
“Everything we make goes back to the church,” Blackstad said. “The funds also help the society with whatever the priest needs for the church, help feed the Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity volunteers, and once a month, help feed the homeless.”
Blackstad said once a month, Holy Cross members visit the Kaua‘i Economic Opportunity housing project to help feed people in need.
The bazaar is open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Holy Cross Church social hall in Kalaheo.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
