A chest full of goodies

Methodist Church will host annual bazaar on Nov. 10

A special holiday bazaar may be just the thing for beginning the holiday shopping season, as Christmas shoppers will be able to find an assortment of handcrafted items, theme baskets and vendors to satisfy everyone on their list. Members of the Community United Methodist Church are planning just such a bazaar Nov. 10 at the corner of Second Street and Sheridan in Williams.

Planners will also raffle off a locally made quilt and cedar chest stocked with linens during the event. Tickets for the raffle cost $2 each or three for $5 with the drawing scheduled for 2 p.m. Those who purchase raffle tickets do not need to be present to win. The bazaar itself will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The church's "Sisters in Spirit" group, according to quilter Madge Davis, hosts the event.

"It used to be our ladies aid group and this is the new name for it. We just figured there needed to be more comradery and this was the name, SIS for short, Sisters in Spirit. We needed to have more comradery and companionship (and) to learn more about each other than just working together," Davis said.

Davis said the Sisters in Spirit group currently hosts around 15 members. She said the bazaar has been a tradition in Williams for over 10 years.

"This has been going on for at least 10 years, maybe it's gone on for longer than that," Davis said. "The building is very old, but it's always had a worshipping group in it. The church has never been empty, but it's almost 150 years old now."

Besides the raffle, shoppers can also expect a bake sale, a white elephant/rummage sale and numerous handcrafted items made from local artisans. The quilt for the raffle, Davis said, was also made locally.

"Ordinarily our quilts are hand-quilted," Davis said. "We don't have anybody right now that has the time to do the hand quilting. This one is machine quilted. One of our ladies has about seven machines and she did this on the machine. The ladies from our group all donated things to put in the cedar chest and it will be raffled off at that same time."

The quilt will be on display at National Bank of Arizona's Ninth Street location, while the cedar chest will be available for viewing at the National Bank of Arizona's Fourth Street site. Raffle tickets can be purchased at Williams Wear along Route 66 and the Camp Civitan Thrift Shop located along Railroad Avenue across from the Williams Forest Service Visitor's Center.

Judy Martin, co-chair of the Sisters in Spirit group and Sunday school teacher, said the event is a popular one among Williams residents.

"They like them very much and look forward to them each year," Martin said. "That's our biggest fundraiser. We hope to see everyone there."

Raffle funds, she added, goes toward various SIS projects.

"It goes to the works of the Sister in Spirit," Martin said. "We have missions (and) we do things around the church, projects around the church."