Community comes together for ninth annual Ryan Ferreira Memorial Craft Fair

Over 135 vendors packed into Dartmouth High School’s gym on Sunday, Nov. 23 for the ninth annual Ryan Ferreira Memorial Craft Fair.

“It’s really great that the community comes together to try and support the cause and raise money for Ryan,” said organizer Amanda Alcaidinho, who also owns the Westport-based gift shop 3GenLove.

Ferreira was an on-call firefighter and medic in Dartmouth and a firefighter in Walpole who died in 2016 at 31-years-old from a medical emergency.

The craft fair began 10 years ago as a way to help raise money for Ferreira’s family, but it has transformed into raising money to fund the Ryan Ferreira Memorial Foundation’s scholarship for local high school students.

“We run this in his honor and raise money for his scholarship foundation that the family has set up for students,” Alcaidinho said.

Many vendors at the craft fair have been participating in it since it began, including Karen Mosman, who was selling chocolate covered pretzels to raise money for Relay For Life, which provides resources and services for cancer patients and their caregivers.

Mosman has been raising money for Relay For Life since 2017 when her dad battled with lung cancer for a second time.

“It’s important to me to give back, and this is a fun way to do it,” she said.

Mosman added that the craft fair is now also a community event and is an opportunity for people to come together.

“Even [Ferreira’s] dad was here earlier,” she said.

Cheryl Flett, a fiber artist from Wareham, sold her wool products and artwork during the craft fair, including wreaths, mini reindeer and roses.

Flett gets her wool straight from the sheep, cleans it, processes it and dyes it on her own before weaving it into her creations, an artform she started dabbling in 30 years ago when she was living in Vermont without TV or internet access.

While staying at an inn, she saw someone doing a needle felting project on QVC and thought “it was the coolest thing in the world.”

The majority of Flett’s designs are her own, with inspiration coming from nature and the time she spent living in Vermont and Chicago.

At the craft fair, Flett was selling flowers she placed in a background made of woven yarn.

“That way I can use all the material I have and use more than one modality,” she said.

Easton residents Rikki Washington and kids Kylie and Ava participated in the Ryan Ferreira Memorial Craft Fair for the first time this year, selling fidget toys, build-your-own action figures and mini winter-themed “fairy houses,” all made with 3D printers that they built.

The Washingtons began selling their creations in September, though Rikki said that they’ve been making 3D printed items “for a long time.”

She said that a lot of people who came by their table loved the fidget toys and action figures.

“We definitely had a few kids that really wanted something and took our sticker intending to ask for it for Christmas, which is cool because we have stuff on our website,” Rikki said.

According to Alcaidinho, around 90% of the vendors were selling handmade products and 10% were direct sales.

“It’s good to have something where everybody can come together,” she said.