ASHLAND

| Also serving the communities of Montpelier, Beaverdam, Rockville and Doswell

Ashland Garden Club celebrates 100 years

Contributed Report Th e Local

The Ashland Garden Club (AGC), founded on Oct. 12, 1922, is celebrating its Centennial anniversary. Club members took a photo in September at Rhodeen on the campus of Randolph-Macon College. Mary McDermott Beirne, founding member and first president of the AGC, lived at Rhodeen and many of her white daffodils can still be seen blooming in the spring near the house.

On the anniversary date, the club hosted its Fall Fantasy fundraising event. Nancy Hugo gave an exceptional program on “The Extraordinary Osage Orange.” Fall Fantasy proceeds are used to fund scholarships for students to attend events such as Camp Bloom and 4-H Camp, as well as a $2,000 scholarship for a Patrick Henry High School senior who plans to study horticulture, agriculture, botany or environmental studies. The Ashland Museum opened a new exhibit about the AGC that will run through January 2023.

Additionally, club members are planting 525 daffodil bulbs in public spaces around Ashland this fall as a cheery springtime gift to the town for years to come. Areas planted to date include the Ashland Train Station, Ashland Library, Hanover Arts & Activities Center, the Ashland Police Station, Henry Clay Elementary School and the town parks.

Contributed photos

Above, Members of the The Ashland Garden Club mark their Centennial by planting daffodils in public spaces around Ashland.Members of The Ashland Garden Club, September 2022 in front of Rhodeen.

Th e Parsons’ Cause Foundation seeking donations for summer 2023 programs

Contributed Report Th e Local

After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Parsons’ Cause Foundation was pleased to present shows during the summer of 2022. In all, 741 people attended a show this past summer.

The foundation is now setting their sights on bringing a superb lineup of performers to the Historic Hanover Courthouse in the summer of 2023. To do so, they are requesting assistance from the community and ask that residents consider the foundation for their end of the year charitable contributions.

Tax deductible donations can be sent to the foundation at the following address: The Parsons' Cause Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 364, Mechanicsville, VA 23111-0364.

The Parsons’ Cause Foundation Board of Directors thanks the community for their support and consideration and wishes all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2023.

Upcoming programs at Ashland branch library

Richard S. Gillis, Jr./ Ashland Branch Library

A Royal Storytime at the Ashland Branch Library. Thursday, Dec. 8, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Calling all Princess and Princesses for a Royal Storyime. Dress in your best royal outfit and join the library for stories and crafts befitting your highnesses. Register for a reminder at https:// pamunkeylibrary.libcal.com/.

Mad about Mahjong! at the Ashland Branch Library. Fridays, Dec. 9, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.Looking for experienced players to play with? Join other Mahjong enthusiasts in playing the cultural tile game at the Ashland Library.

Santa’s Workshop Family

Escape Room at the Ashland Branch Library. Saturday, Dec. 10, 11 a.m. to noon, 1 to 2p.m., 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Jack Frost is trying to ruin the holidays by hiding Santa’s magic sleigh key. Can your family figure out the clues to find the key and save the holidays? Register for a time slot at https://pamunkeylibrary. libcal.com/. 3 Rivers Livestock Club at the Ashland Branch Library. Tuesday, Dec. 13, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Ages 5-18. Would you like to participate in planning community service events and hone your expressive arts skills? At the library’s meetings, learn how to get involved in community and public affairs, how to be a good role model, how to give back to your community, and how to use time management skills to enjoy every part of life.

Sew Ready to Learn at the Ashland Branch Library. Wednesday, Dec. 14, 5 to 8 p.m. Join the Hanover Sewing Group to work on various projects as a seasoned quilter talks about various quilting methods, ways to run a guild and combining quilting with other hobbies.

Volunteers Eileen Falcone and Chris Stilwell assist shoppers while manning the Craft Bazaar’s bake sale booth.

Craft Bazaar co-chairs Dave and Terry Worland pose with the event’s featured guests, Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.

Volunteers Debbie Ward, Ciara Kocik and Mike Bonelli greet Craft Bazaar visitors at the information desk while waiting to assist vendors with loading and unloading.

Gail Robertson was among the 120 plus vendors at this year’s Craft Bazaar and sold her handmade Zodiac Rocks.

BAZAAR

Continued from pg. 1 crafts from over 120 vendors.

In addition to its abundance of family attractions, such as a special visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus along with exciting raffle prizes, the annual fair serves as one of the church’s largest fundraising events of the year. This year’s event was held on Saturday, Nov. 19 at the church, located at located at 8275 Meadowbridge Road in Mechanicsville.

While admission was free, the church requested a $1 donation at the door that was rewarded with a door prize ticket, with this year’s door prizes including Santa Claus cookie jars, Enamel pie plates, mugs and more. Visitors who brought a nonperishable food item for the church’s food bank received an additional door prize ticket.

According to event co-chairs Terry and Dave Worland, they drew in around $1,700 in door donations alone and filled the church’s shelves in donated canned goods.

“We were packing bags all the way down the hall,” Dave said, adding that they could fill multiple shopping carts to the brim with the collected canned goods.

“This is the fundraiser that keeps the lights on that allows all of the other fundraisers to all the other ministries do their work and benefit the community,” Terry said.

Dave and Terry, who have helped to organize the event for the past five years, said the Craft Bazaar continues to grow in size and prominence as they continue to draw in more vendors every year, with some even traveling from out-of-state.

“It always draws a big crowd,” Dave said. “I think a lot of the community looks forward to it every year. We see a lot of the same people and a lot of new people come in every year.”

One of the features of the annual fair is the requirement that all items sold by vendors are handmade, offering one-of-a-kind holiday gifts at reasonable prices.

It’s a requirement the vendors really appreciate because they’re not competing with large direct sales companies, Terry said, adding that they “do a lot of work to keep the vendors happy.”

Bazaar volunteers assist vendors with unloading and loading their items, placing them on carts, and wheeling them to their assigned spaces. The church’s youth volunteers even collect lunch orders from the vendors and place them on their behalf to the church’s kitchen, which serves breakfast and lunch to visitors throughout the event.

“We try to make it easy for the vendors, because if we don’t have crafters, we don’t have a craft fair,” Dave said.

This year’s large assortment of handcrafted items included handsewn items, such as towels and bags, along with jewelry, crocheted items, pottery, local honey, jellies, soaps, candles and more.

The Bazaar additionally featured a Santa Shop with an abundance of small, inexpensive gift items that were primarily donated by church members. With the help of a few of Santa’s elves, children shopped around for gifts for their family while parents waited outside.

In addition, the Bazaar featured its annual raffle with impressive prizes such as the Oculus Quest 2 VR, gift card trees worth over $300, a TV and more. In previous years, they have featured items such as a Nintendo Switch, the newest Play Station and even a drone.

“It takes a lot of organizing but the day of the Bazaar, it’s almost like it runs itself,” Dave said. “It takes a lot of hard work to get to that point, but when you get there, you see all the people enjoying themselves and getting their Christmas shopping done, and it’s just fun to sit back and watch.”

He added that it takes a “huge amount of volunteers,” with the church’s staff, members, youth, Boy Scout troops, American Heritage troops, and even local schools pitching in to bring the annual fair to life. Many parishioners donate items for the Santa Shop, bake sale, refreshment spread and raffles.

“It’s a good opportunity for everyone at church to be involved in this, and we’re very thankful because Redeemer is a very active parish,” Terry said.

Terry and Dave said they always enjoy helping to organize the annual event, as it helps them stay connected with the community and the parish and offers the chance for their own families to join in the day’s festivities.

Dave said he enjoyed watching his granddaughters, Lilly and Cora Wilcox, sit on Santa’s lap and share what they wanted for Christmas.

“We’re surrounded by some really good people,” he added. “We’ve got a terrific committee that puts this on, and the staff is very helpful. It’s just kind of one of those things of if you surround yourself with good people, a lot of good things tend to happen.”

They said they have already drawn in a number of vendor applications for next year’s Craft Bazaar and predict the return of around 70% of this year’s vendors.

Open registration for the 2023 Craft Bazaar begins Feb. 1, 2023. To submit a vendor application or for more information on the annual event, visit https://www.churchredeemer.org/craft.