84th Harvest Moon Bazaar Goes Beyond Just a Bazaar

It won’t be your grandma’s church bazaar. But grandma will still love it. 

The 84th annual Harvest Moon Bazaar at First Congregational Church in Bristol on Saturday will still have much of what you expect in a church bazaar. It runs from 10 am to 3 pm at 300 High St.

“But it’s going beyond just a bazaar,” said Dyan Vaughan, who is running the silent auction, which includes items you simply won’t find in a typical auction.

See for yourself by going to the online catalog (http://fccauction.weebly.com/).

How about a real Renoir etching? A one-week stay at a waterfront cottage? Acting and singing lessons? Original artwork by artist Susan Butler? And tickets to Trinity Rep or the Gamm Theatre?

“We had the etching examined by Skinner Auctions, who confirmed it was an original etching, made using the original plate,” said Vaughan. “It was done in the 1950s. The donor purchased it in Paris in the 1960s.”

A lot of other original art will be auctioned. It all came from the home of a woman who once ran a gallery in London, England, who downsized and donated the art to the church. 

There will be lot of other first-time things at the bazaar as well, such as a visit from Santa Claus on an antique fire truck between 11 am and 1 pm. Donate a toy or cash for the East Bay Food Pantry and get a photo taken with Santa with your own camera. 

You can also get the names of children from the local “giving tree” at the bazaar for the first time. Vaughan coordinates the giving tree as well. 

There will be entertainment all day, including storyteller “Sug” Grant, a retired librarian from Louisiana who lives now in Bristol; the Mt. Hope High School Chorus; members of the Community String Project, and the church’s own James Thomas.

There will be child care for the first time while parents shop. The kids will make a holiday gift or ornament.

“This is not a religious thing,” Vaughan said of the bazaar. “It’s a community outreach thing. We’re interacting with other parts of the community.”

Indeed, the bazaar drew more than 600 people last year, she said. A similar crowd is anticipated.

Profits from the bazaar will be used for local assistance, such as to pay heating bills or to buy groceries or to respond to emergencies. Money also will help pay for a youth service mission, she said.

Ruth Fisher and Lisa Andrade of the women’s guild are co-chairs of the bazaar. It was the women’s guild that started the bazaar more than eight decades ago and still manages the “yard sale” – known as the Attic Treasures Room.