Florence Band Program to host Craft Fair…
Florence Band Program to host Craft Fair Saturday, Sunday at school
Carie Canterbury / Daily Record
MaKenna Green, drum major for the Howling Husky Pride Marching Band, hangs Florence High School-themed decorations on a Christmas tree during the band's 2014 Arts and Crafts Fair at the school.
By Olivia Johnson | ojohnson@canoncitydailyrecord.com |
PUBLISHED: December 8, 2021 at 4:44 p.m. | UPDATED: December 9, 2021 at 6:31 a.m.
The Florence Band Program will put on the annual Craft Fair from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Florence Junior/Senior High School commons, located at 2006 Colo. 67.
Band teacher Justin Nelson has taken over organization of the event after several years of assisting the prior band teacher. This will be the 14th year of the Craft Fair's existence in the local community.
There will be 35 different vendors present and ready to sell their merchandise. Home-made pottery, stained glass, ornaments, fruits and jellies, photography, quilted items and much more will be available to purchase. Most of the vendors have been constant participants throughout the years and, slowly, the vendor numbers have grown and deepened.
Proceeds will go to benefit the Florence band program. Nelson estimated that it takes roughly $25,000 a year to run the band program to its best ability. Travel, music rights, and instrument repair are only a few of obstacles that the program must overcome from year to year. The COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in 2020 resulted in a stunted program in 2021 because the band program was unable to hold its annual holiday fundraiser.
Vendors show up at 6 a.m. the morning of the event and eager students assist in setting up booths and transporting goods from cars and trucks. Then, after the booths are properly assembled, the band kids will journey into Florence to conduct holiday carols throughout the community. They will be at Oil City Coffee, located 129 E. Main St., in Florence from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Friday, Big D's Superfoods, located 1100 E. Main St. in Florence, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday and Coyote Coffee Den, located 675 Colo. 115, Penrose from 1 to 3 p.m. They will also be at the Christmas tree in downtown Florence from 1 to 3 p.m. They will be accepting donations at those times.
Band kids spend considerable amounts of time, 20 to 30 hours in total, to put on the craft fair and make it successful. However, Nelson knows the value of the fundraiser.
"It's really important because, in a small town like Florence, it's important to support the people in the community," Nelson said. "One of the cool things about being in a small town is that everybody kind of knows everybody and so it's nice when we get together as a community and do things like this where we support each other."
In addition to the many goods available at the fair, there will also be concessions, such as nachos, hot dogs, homemade soups and breakfast burritos. There will also be raffles and a silent auction.
"The more people we have there the better the event is for the band, the vendors and the community," Nelson said. "There's some really cool things here."
Residents can plan to head to Florence Junio/ Senior High School to partake in their craft fair this weekend, where they might stumble across that perfect holiday gift.
Olivia Johnson