Laughter and deals were plentiful at the VFW on Oct. 16, as the Auxiliary held a craft fair and bake sale to help raise funds for various veterans programs in the region.

“It’s been pretty good, people have been in all day,” said Auxiliary President Terry Caton.

Nine vendors were set up inside the 144 Cross Rd. Post building selling jewelry, stained glass ornaments, and baked goods including cookies and crumbles.

New Bedford resident Manny DaSilva sold lamps he made with repurposed alcohol bottles. He said the venture started in 2014 with a bottle of Blue Chair Bay rum.

“I didn’t want to throw it away,” he said. “I wanted to do something with it, so my wife told me to make a lamp out of it.”

The New Bedford resident also makes night lights using nips, hand sanitizer containers, and salt and pepper shakers.

Dartmouth resident Tracy Rappa sold customized signs, coasters, and even some pandemic-appropriate shot glasses labeled “first shot, second shot, and booster shot.”

“Gotta have a sense of humor, right?” she said with a laugh.

Proceeds from this year’s sale, Caton said, will go toward Fisher House Boston — a nonprofit which provides hotel accommodations to military families while a loved one is receiving medical treatment in Boston.

“If it's a veteran that’s ill, or their child or wife, they will put the family in the hotel by the hospital so they’re right there,” Caton said. 

Money will also go toward providing gift bags of clothes and activity books to veterans in transitional housing, along with helping the Council on Aging get food to hand out.

“All of it goes toward the vets,” Caton said. “We help when we can, and if there’s a family in-need locally, we’ll see what we can do.”