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Spencer Avenue Elementary School to host Winter Fest, featuring fun kids activities, vendor market, bake sale

December 12, 2024   ·   0 Comments

Proceeds raised support technology, field trips and special guests at the school

By Sam Odrowski

The Spencer Ave. Winter Fest is returning this weekend with 40 adult and junior vendors offering a variety of handmade goods, in addition to several fun activities.

The event features carnival games, crafts for kids, a scavenger hunt, a bake sale, raffles, a silent auction and lots of shopping opportunities from local small businesses. Grade 4 to 8 students from Spencer Avenue Elementary School will also sell products at a Junior Market.

The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, and is open to the public, with several hundred people expected to attend. Admission is free but Children’s Activity Wristbands are $5 each, which provide access to fun activities for kids.

“I think this event has a really good balance of offering a nice opportunity for the adults to shop for seasonal items, while at the same time providing some good entertainment for the kids,” said Cari Mistry, chair of the Winter Fest organizing committee.

“Sometimes markets are can be quite large but this is a nice, manageable size, and it’s right in everyone’s backyard.”

The funds raised from the event support the school council at Spencer Avenue, which has designated this year’s proceeds towards enhancing the school’s technology, hosting field trips and bringing in special guests. Organizers are expecting around $7,000 to be raised this year.

But more important than raising funds is creating a fun outing for families to enjoy, said Mistry.

“We want our emphasis to be on staging a great community event where everyone feels welcome, where people get to mingle with their neighbours, teachers and students, etc.,” said Mistry.

The Junior Market was added to the Winter Fest for the first time last year and it’s coming back this year with roughly 15 young entrepreneurs due to its success.

“To participate, the students had to come up with a business idea. They had to give a little elevator sales pitch to a panel of teachers in order to gain admission, and they’ve been hard at work creating whatever it is their items are for the market,” said Mistry.

“They’ll get to experience what it’s like to be an artisan, to be a small business owner.”

The vendor market will feature a variety of handmade items, from knitted, hand-sewn and crocheted pieces to items crafted from wood. There will also be custom Christmas ornaments, seasonal decorations, handmade jewellery and hand-poured candles.

Land of the Glass Slipper, a local company that brings movie characters to events for children to enjoy, will be bringing some magical princesses to the Winter Fest between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The event will also feature “Joy Jars,” crafted by families who attend Spencer Avenue Public School, that are available through a raffle.

“These jars are full of all sorts of magical things. It could be art supplies, it could be Lego pieces – anything from small toys to arts and crafts items, edible treats, etc.,” said Mistry.

“The kids have fun creating the Joy Jars. They decorate them and add embellishments to make them fun and appealing.”

Mistry added that there are several other raffle items and silent auction items that are appealing to both children and adults.

Some of the local businesses who have contributed prizes to the silent auction include Home Hardware, Boston Pizza, Orangeville Musical Theatre, Pear Home, Styling Essentials, Wicked Shortbread, Go Yoga, Canadian Tire, Kindmoose Candles, Class Clown Chilli Sauce Co., Family Tree Real Estate, and Osprey Valley Golf.

“We also have a bake sale put on by parents and a hot chocolate cafe where people attending can go have a quiet sit in a classroom and enjoy a gourmet hot chocolate and some sweet treats,” Mistry noted.

In preparation for the event, Spencer Avenue Elementary School students have decorated their classroom doors for a contest.

Student attendees of the Winter Fest get to vote on which class’s door is best decorated and the winning class will receive a pizza party from Johnny’s Pizza or a smoothie party from Pita Pit.

The Winter Fest is in its ninth year, having first started in 2014, but was unable to run in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mistry said students, families and area residents look forward to attending the annual event and spreading some community spirit.

“We do have a number of community members who attend each year, who don’t have children at the school, but they look forward to it, because they enjoy a chance to shop in person and to shop local,” she noted.

It’s important to note that while some vendors accept electronic payments, attendees should bring cash, as the raffle, children’s activity wristbands and bake sale are cash only.

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