Holiday Mart coming to East
HOLIDAY MART – Junior Auxiliary’s Holiday Mart is just around the corner. The event is slated for Saturday, November 12 from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. inside the East Elementary School cafeteria and gymnasium.
by Danny Wade
Even though Halloween was just here, people have already begun their Christmas shopping. For those who have not started and still have gifts to purchase, you are in luck.
The 17th annual Holiday Mart is back. Holiday Mart is Junior Auxiliary of Humboldt’s largest fundraiser of the year. This year’s event will once again take place at the East Elementary School cafeteria and gym on Saturday, November 12 from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. There is no entrance fee. Visitors should enter on the Carriage Lane side of the building.
Holiday Mart was created by the Humboldt Business Women’s Club in 2004. After building the event bigger and better each year, the club decided to turn it over to someone else. That is when Junior Auxiliary jumped at the opportunity and ran with it in 2017. JA kept the tradition going and continued to grow the shopping extravaganza year after year. In 2020, covid reared its ugly head, forcing JA to cancel Holiday Mart. Last year, in 2021, Holiday Mart was back and it came back with a vengeance being one of the biggest and best ever.
This year, Junior Auxiliary made a call to the North Pole to see if Santa Claus could attend Holiday Mart. They were ecstatic when Ol’ St. Nick agreed. He is even bringing Mrs. Claus with him. Kids of all ages can take pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus at no charge. What a way to start the holiday season.
As always, there will be a wide variety of vendor booths. Vendors will have 10 ft. by 10 ft. space to sell their wares. Some vendors will rent two, three or more spaces to show all of their products. JA is proud to say that all booth spaces have been sold.
With over 50 vendors, there will be something for everyone’s Christmas list. There will be clothing boutiques, jewelry, home décor, Thanksgiving and fall items, beauty products, children’s educational materials, specialty handmade wood products, quilts and, of course, Christmas gifts and décor.
Some vendors will have food to sell, but there will be food trucks on site serving breakfast, lunch and snacks with a wide variety for all tastebuds.
Junior Auxiliary of Humboldt is a ladies’ civic organization with their main focus on helping children. Some of their projects include Kid/Child Welfare project assisting those who may need a little extra help, Go Bags filled with toiletry items, Operation Kid Print providing fingerprinting and IDs for children, Prom Closet collecting gently used prom dresses for those who need a dress for a special occasion, Backpack Program filled with school supplies, Summer Camp in conjunction with Humboldt Housing Authority, Project Lullaby to provide needs for babies/mother at A Mother’s Love, Rising Star/Unsung Hero recognizes students that do not normally make the best grades but have good attitude and try harder, and Reading Adventure/Book Buddies reading to students and handing out children’s book. Funds from Holiday Mart go a long way in providing all of these services to local children and families.
Mark your calendar for Saturday, November 12 to attend the 17th annual Holiday Mart. Not only are you completing your holiday shopping, you are also supporting one of Humboldt’s civic clubs, which in turn, gives back to the community.
