December 2001 - Nr. 12
Christmas Fair Season
At the Danube Swabian Club
The kick-off for this year’s three-day Christmas Fair was at the Danube Swabian Club, in Scarborough. This fair was number 32 and well visited again. About 60 vendors were distributed throughout the club including the halls and the mezzanine.
Joe
and Maria Stritzl – from Crown Food Service Equipment - who also donated
the $1000.00 Grand Prize, with the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony,
officially opened the fair.
Most
of the visitors concentrated their attention on gifts, suitable to the
season, but some vendors offered meat and fish products, coat hangers, pots,
pans, kitchenware, medical products and other assorted paraphernalia, a fact
that was openly criticized by a number of the visitors as "not having
anything to do with Christmas", and who failed to see the whole
picture.
Of
course there were wonderful hand crafted items for sale plus imports from
Germany and Austria such as fierce-looking nutcrackers, pyramids, pewter
ware, beer steins, amber jewellery, beeswax candles, chocolates, marzipan,
music, Christmas decorations and more.
Always in demand were the delightful handcrafted dolls, angels, table clothes and more, offered by the Ladies Auxiliary of the club.
At the Hansa Haus
The
next fair I visited - also a three-day event - was in the Hansa Haus in
Mississauga. This is where I met some of the same vendors that I already
knew from the Danube Swabian Club, mentioned above. This was only the fifth
time this fair was held in Mississauga, but word must’ve gotten around
because the fair was well visited. The restaurant and bar were open in the
Hansa Stube, upstairs and many of the visitors took this opportunity to
relax with a great meal and a drink from the rigors downstairs on the floor
of the great hall.
Again,
the offerings were similar to the other fair only this time we could also
welcome the Mennonites with that fantastic sausage that never spoils, all
sorts of smoked meat product, hams, jams, baked goods and more. 
The
last time I had seen them was at the sportsmen show and I was very impressed
with their products then.
Reif Winery gave out small samples for tasting of an excellent 1999 Riesling.
One item that took my fancy were decorated eggs in a great variety of designs – very elegant and very fragile but very beautiful. Created by Eva Hegedus, who has 10 years of European experience, each one is hand painted and handcrafted. They are only sold in special, approved stores.
Stuffed
toys and dolls delighted some of the younger visitors, as did all the
chocolates and other products for the sweet tooth, which were available at
the fair. And, before the visitors left the hall, they had another chance at
those fragrant beeswax candles that were on display in the foyer.
Club Loreley
Club
Loreley in Oshawa held a one-day Christmas Fair last Sunday from 11:00 in
the morning to 5:00 o’clock in the evening. Short but sweet. Six hours of
concentrated, almost hectic activity by a stream of visitors that never
stopped coming. Well, having only six hours available served as an incentive
to come and not miss the fair. Of course it did stress the parking
facilities a bit, but with the constant coming and going, people managed.
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vendors were on hand to serve the visitors – even the Loreley Singers
raised funds by selling baked goods and the uniformed Girl Guard did
likewise by selling potted plants – all in a hall about half the size of
the Hansa Haus. Well done, Loreley!
There
was something available for everyone’s taste. Candles, gift items,
sausages, pastry, pewter, nutcrackers and other seasonal decorations,
greeting cards, porcelain wares and much more.
The
Loreley singers went around the hall carolling with all those wonderful
seasonal German favourites. Mulled wine, coffee and cake were available for
the visitors and the Male Choir manned the kitchen to provide excellent food
service as well.
The
whole affair seemed to be very well organized and managed without
sacrificing an atmosphere of intimacy throughout.
As always,
Dick Altermann
