Giving back to veterans one craft at a time
Jeannette Niler and Savannah Woodwall with the extracts, pastes and more they were selling at the craft fair. Photos by Abby Van Selous
At the event was a raffle with an item from each vendor.
Shoppers decide what baked goods they want to buy.
A shopper visits Jeannette Niler.
Cousins Maxine Mello and Deborah Aobes sold the birdhouses and quilts they created.
Members of the Ladies Auxiliary, which organizes the annual craft fair.
Jeannette Niler and Savannah Woodwall with the extracts, pastes and more they were selling at the craft fair. Photos by Abby Van Selous
At the event was a raffle with an item from each vendor.
Shoppers decide what baked goods they want to buy.
A shopper visits Jeannette Niler.
Cousins Maxine Mello and Deborah Aobes sold the birdhouses and quilts they created.
Members of the Ladies Auxiliary, which organizes the annual craft fair.
Packed in a small room at the Veterans of Foreign Wars building, small businesses and self-proclaimed hobbyists sold their handcrafted goods to familiar faces.
Baked goods, bouquets, candles, birdhouses and more were all for sale at the annual event, which was organized by the Dartmouth VFW Ladies Auxiliary.
“We started doing it five years ago, I would say,” said Terry Caton, a member of the Ladies Auxiliary. “We started a little bit smaller and it seems to be getting bigger each time.”
Fourteen vendors sold their products at the fair on Sunday, Nov. 10, in addition to a bake sale, which several people contributed to, and a raffle featuring one item from each vendor.
All proceeds from the event go to the VFW and the needs of local veterans.
“Whatever we’re collecting today, all our proceeds, 100%, go to helping veterans, families and services,” said Joanne Normore, the president of the Ladies Auxiliary. “We do not collect any money for us.”
Jeannette Niler has attended the craft fair in the past, but this year she was at the event as a vendor selling hand crafted extracts and spices and vanilla bean paste.
She was invited to be a vendor at the event after people from the auxiliary told her it would be a “good idea to sell it here.”
In the first hour or so of the event, Niler noticed that “there’s been quite a bit of traffic coming in.”
Maxine Mello and her cousin Deborah Aobes were both vendors at the event for the first time this year.
Mello was selling birdhouses at the fair while Aobes was selling quilts and pens, among other items.
“It’s just fun seeing all the people,” Aobes said. “It’s fun looking around and seeing what other people will sell.”
Aobes has sold her products at craft fairs before, but the event was a first for Mello.
“I think it’s a really good idea to support local community and small business,” Mello said, adding that she considers herself a hobbyist. “It’s a good idea to come on down and really support your community.”
Kristen Brito, who has been a vendor at the craft fair before, runs a New Bedford-based candle business called Chrome Flames with her partner, Taylor Jacobs.
“It’s always a great turnout,” said Brito, who was born and raised in Dartmouth. “There’s a lot of local support, so that’s always really nice.”
Every vendor at the event is a “donator for our services,” Normore said. “No one makes money.”
“It’s all for the veterans,” she added.
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