Vintage Christmas Market a sign of the season
Photos by MANDI BATEMAN The Vintage Christmas Market drew a large crowd on Friday and Saturday.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN The Vintage Christmas Market has grown to fill two buildings at the Boundary County Fairgrounds.
Laken Rice brought her homegrown and homemade food to the market from Laken’s Soulshine.
Christmas items of all types delighted visitors.
Metal items are very popular right now, such as these Tramp Art style Christmas trees.
BONNERS FERRY — As the holidays approach, there are many things that signify the beginning of the season. For some in Boundary County, it is the annual Vintage Christmas Market, held every year on the Friday and Saturday before Thanksgiving at the Boundary County Fairgrounds.
The Vintage Christmas Market has been going since 2008 and originally started in the Memorial Hall of the fairgrounds. As they outgrew that hall, they eventually moved into the Valley Event Center. Over the years, the draw of vintage Christmas items, all artistically arranged, has drawn so much of a crowd that they now take up both halls.
A newcomer this year was Laken’s Soulshine restaurant, providing warm meals and baked goodies, such as the hot soup made with squash picked from her grandmother’s garden.
“We called it ‘the edibles’,” said Marianne Duarte, part of the team that puts the event on each year. “We have had three meal choices every day. It’s our own little restaurant right here, it is just perfect.”
“It’s been great ... really, really fun,” said Soulshine owner Laken Rice. “There has been a lot of people, surprisingly a lot.”
For both days, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 17-18, there was a steady stream of people coming in to admire and purchase the Christmas-themed items. Not everyone was there to buy, some just came to immerse themselves in the holiday spirit. For many, the items brought back memories of Christmases past.
“We try to focus on vintage,” said Duarte. “There are so many reproductions anymore.”
The 14 vendors that make up the market have been friends for a long time and that feeling extends out to all those that visit the market.
“We have all been friends for over 30 years. Some I even went to school with,” said Duarte. “Nobody wears their feelings on their shirt sleeve. We are all friends and you look out for everybody else.”
Duarte said that rusty metal is trendy at the moment. She indicated to the Tramp Art style metal Christmas trees that she made using her plasma cutter. The festive trees were decorated with unconventional “ornaments”, made up of all sorts of different items like drawer handles, can openers, washers, and bells.
“I made like 75 of them and have sold over half them already,” said Duarte. “People love metal.”
The two rooms were filled with items of all kinds, allowing the visitors to find the perfect gift, or showpiece for their mantel or tree.
“Every year we are more amazed. Bonners Ferry is amazing,” said Duarte. “It is just so well supported. Everyone does fantastic.”
“It’s funny because we could do this in Sandpoint, but it wouldn’t work. It’s Bonners Ferry, vintage, hometown Christmas, and they just keep coming,” said Duarte. “Our little hometown really is amazing. In every way, shape and form, they come out in droves. Even this — yes, we make money at it — but they are supporting their friends. I just feel really blessed. It’s been a really fun thing to do.”