The 51st Annual Holiday Bazaar & Expo of the GFWC of Tennessee Greeneville Woman’s Club, held at Hal Henard Elementary School, is now in the history books. If one word could be used to describe it, that word would be “great,” according to club president Kendra Hopson. “The attendance of 2,000 on Saturday greatly exceeded our expectations, due to the Tennessee ballgame and such beautiful weather,” said Hopson. “But many people shopped early wearing their orange and white, stating they were going home to watch THE GAME!”
By 10:30 a.m. all 600 of the large shopping bags, sponsored by Broyles General Store, had been handed out. By noon, it was clear that attendance was up significantly from last year. For the two-date event there were a total of 3,500 people.
Co-chairman Rhonda Humbert said, “It was a lot of work but it was very rewarding to see how excited the vendors were about such good sales and how pleased they were about the friendliness of the customers. I can’t even tell you how many of the vendors said they had the best year ever. And we certainly appreciate the custodians at the school who helped us keep things clean and neat for our customers.”
The main items that appeared to sell included custom T-shirts; flower arrangements of every kind, from cemetery arrangements to table arrangements; sugar scrubs; snowmen; jewelry; pottery, stained glass, wooden items of all types, Christmas trees and wreaths, tote bags, scarf clips, scarves and essential oils.
Brandi Glassock of Buddy’s Emporium had her first-time booth outside in front of the school selling clothing and accessories and said her sales were “fantastic.” Two Roots Alpacas & Fiber Mill had a booth this year and she said, “It was amazing – our sales were phenomenal.” Most all of the vendors remarked about how friendly the customers were and how much they were buying.
SnoBiz’s Janet Cox said that chicken and dumplings, chicken croissants, lemonade and hot fudge cake were the most popular food items inside; although their beans and cornbread and homemade desserts weren’t far behind. John Price, the Hot Dog Man, said his variety of sausages were very popular, as well as his Nathan hot dogs outside. He livened up the outside area by playing Christmas music.
Tammy Kinser, co-chairman of the event said, “Santa Claus made an appearance from 11 to 1 on Saturday and was as popular with adults as with the children. Everyone around was smiling.”
Club members personalized all of their annual ornaments, which featured a snow scene, and Daisy Carroll, a vendor from Kingsport, sold some very popular hand-painted ornaments as well as did Teresa Honeycutt of Elizabethton.
According to Kathy Knight, publicity chairman, “It was really fun to see so many old friends and former club members as they came out this year. We had lots of requests for booths next year, with 65 vendors completing their applications for next year. We also had several vendors and customers ask us how to join the woman’s club.
Winners of the door prizes included: Linda Hipshire of Grainger County who won the $250 gift certificate from Broyles General Store; Lewayne Stahl of Erwin who won $150 gift certificate from The GreeneHouse, Tusculum Blvd; and Kim Hamlin of Greeneville who won the $75 gift certificate from Food City.
All monies raised from the two-day event go right back into the community in the areas of Arts & Culture; Civic Engagement & Outreach; Education and Libraries; Environment; and Health & Wellness.
The club meets the second Thursday night of each month, 6:00 p.m. in the fellowship hall of Reformation Lutheran Church.
