60 stalls pack out Craft Fair

| Greymouth Star | Subscriber Only |

Craft exponents will fill the Greymouth High School gymnasium on Saturday for the annual MS Craft Fair.

Close to 60 stalls will pack the venue, with an increased response this year, organiser Jenny Woods says.

“We were worried that with the economy we would have less responses this year, but we’ve actually had a lot of support,” she said. “The hall is full — we have roughly 49 stalls and another 10 in the tech centre, so roughly 59 stalls. It’s probably the best lineup we’ve had in a long time.”

With Father’s Day this Sunday, the stalls have a range of gifts, plus good shopping for those wanting to get in early for Christmas. Many of the stallholders are local, and they will be boosted by stalls from Christchurch and Nelson. The fair runs from 10am to 3pm on Saturday.

Just a few of the products on offer include greenstone, roasted seeds, Monkanoids, knitting, candles, diffusors, vinyl art, woodcraft, garden art, plants, lemonade, gnomes, pottery, handmade aprons, coasters, glass plates, corrugated iron art, hand dyed yarn and tea cup bird feeders.

Food trucks will also be on site and there will be hot chips and sausages available for purchase. Hot drinks and homemade baking can be found in the tech centre at the high school.

If the weather is fine there will also be a bouncy castle on site.

“Come along and just enjoy the day,” Ms Woods said.

The annual fair is Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Society West Coast’s only big fundraiser each year. Last year it raised $7500.

Ms Woods said the Gloriavale Christian Community was the backbone of the fair and they would not be able to run it without their support. All proceeds from the Gloriavale stalls are donated straight to MS. Multiple Sclerosis Parkinson’s Society West Coast looks after 145 clients from Karamea to Haast.

“As I understand it, the West Coast has the highest incidents of Parkinson’s in the country,” Ms Woods said. “It affects people of all ages.”

Information about both Multiple Sclerosis, a chronic autoimmune disease, and Parkinson’s, a progressive neurodegenerative condition, will be available at the fair. MS Awareness Week is September 15 to 22 this year.