The holiday season is right around the corner and shoppers are taking to stores and websites to find gifts for their loved ones.
Local shoppers can look for thoughtful gifts at St. Agnes Catholic Church’s annual Christmas Bazaar, happening Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4 and 5.
This year the sale will not only showcase the art and tradition of Brown County, it will also celebrate its 30th anniversary.
The event started when a group of ladies at the church, the St. Agnes Guild, came together and started the bazaar in 1992.
The guild began in 1972.
Initially there were baked goods, homemade items like knitted blankets or hats, and other collected donations from parishioners at the church.
In 2015, a silent auction was added, featuring gift baskets with assorted goods and small decorated Christmas trees. One year someone built and donated a dollhouse for the auction.
Since the auction started, people in the church and community as a whole have started donating art projects like stained glass and wreaths.
The bazaar’s communication committee member Margie Brandon said that this year the event has grown into a more sophisticated line of products, with many of the items being artwork.
Even though it has changed every year, there are still bazaar favorites like baked goods, relishes and jams, Brandon said.
Aside from woodworking items from Tom Lowe, who sells his items at the bazaar, all items are donated from parishioners and community members.
The sale will show how the history of the Brown County community as an art colony continues in present day, according to a press release from the bazaar committee.
“When the Brown County area was first settled, the pioneers lived a rugged life, with men hunting deer and other animals for food and women making quilts and sewing the family’s clothes,” the release said.
The St. Agnes Quilting Group has continued the quilting tradition of the pioneer women to produce a quilt for the annual raffle at every bazaar.
The Quilt Group has chosen a variety of colors and patterns over the years that continue to generate interest in this art form. This year the quilt pattern consists of 30 blocks of two alternating patterns, from the Ohio Star pattern in red on a cream background, the Grandma’s Flower Basket pattern with a multifloral print for the basket and three quilted tulips on a cream background springing from the basket.
The art of the tulip design was created by Dolores Francis, an art student and head of the quilting group.
From youth group functions to church maintenance, funds raised from the bazaar support the parish, Brandon said.
The youth group, for example, is taking a trip to see the Pope in Lisbon, Portugal in spring of 2023 at World Youth Day. Funds raised from the sale can help support their trip.
About four years ago the bazaar added the youth group boutique, with all money raised from that going back into the youth group.
Locally the sale allows the church to serve community members with leaf removal, tree trimming and more.
They also give money to St. Vincent de Paul and other outreach events in the community like Hope Fest or meals for jail ministries.
“It’s one of the major fundraisers for St. Agnes,” Brandon said.
When they started they raised $7,500. Now the sale brings in about $14,000, Brandon said.
One of the professional artists is woodworker Tom Lowe, who sells his wood crafts through the Hoosier Artist Gallery on Jefferson Street in downtown Nashville, and will be a vendor at this year’s bazaar.
Lowe’s wood carvings include religious, country, wildlife and bird themes. He also makes pendants, puzzles and other gift items. Many of his carvings have a distinctive “Brown County touch,” according to a press release from the Christmas Bazaar board, like the eagle and the intricate carving of a doe and her two fawns in the forest.
Another professional artist, Karen Glanders, has donated a signed print and some of her ceramic work for the silent auction.
Several home hobbyists from the parish have honed their art skills to produce a variety of goods that will be available at the sale.
Larry Gehbauer’s hobby is stained glass art, with pieces including wildlife and outdoor scenes, religious icons, small suncatchers and horses. One of his works, “Winner’s Circle,” contains 281 pieces, depicts a horse’s head with detail in the winner’s wreath of roses around its neck.
Gehbauer also makes Brown County related art, and one of his pieces, “Autumn, Falling Leaves in Brown County,” will be sold in the silent auction at the sale.
In addition to the art created by parishioners, there are several other Brown County memorabilia art pieces, including a framed reproduction (Giclée on canvas) of the painting by Georges LaChance of the original St. Agnes log cabin church, which is now the Presbyterian Fellowship, and a framed and signed print of the pencil drawing of “The Last Supper” by Mary Chezem, an Indiana artist.
There are also framed posters of “Autumn in Brown County” and “Brown County Doors” that will be available for purchase at the bazaar.
The St. Agnes parish craft group, Patty’s Paper Pals, started when several women gathered for “Stampin’ Up” classes in Nashville.
“Many women have joined the group and they continue to inspire and teach each other new designs for this modern art form,” a press release said.
Their products include candy filled curvy boxes and stocking stuffers, lighted decorated bottles, embellished gift card holders, calendars, decorated jars of candy and many more products unique to the St. Agnes Bazaar.
Other parishioners’ handiwork include sewing, knitting, crochet, embroidered clothing, art pieces, pottery and other hobby items, and will be available at the bazaar.
“We’d like the community to come and have fun and look at all the different things we’ve worked on,” Brandon said.
She added they also invite the community to learn more about the parish and its efforts.
“We want to make our names known, welcome the community to our church,” Brandon said.
“We want to welcome everyone.”
30th annual Christmas Bazaar
Friday, Nov. 4, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 5, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
For more information about the bazaar, visit the Facebook page, the parish website, stagnescatholicnashville.org
