Bazaar slated this Saturday

By Kathy Thomson

Members of Matthews Memorial Presbyterian Church will hold their annual Bazaar starting at 10:00 a.m. this Saturday, Nov. 9, and they have invited everyone in the community as well as out-of-town visitors to join them in kicking off the holiday season with a traditional Thanksgiving-type meal and the opportunity to shop for handcrafted Christmas gifts, foods, and decorations.

Members of the historical church have been decorating and cooking for weeks in preparation for this weekend’s annual fundraising event.

Proceeds from the bazaar are used for charity and mission projects, most of them local. The event has been sponsored for well over one hundred years by the ladies group at the Presbyterian Church known for decades as the Sallie Matthews Circle.

Auction Items

A silent auction will be conducted during the bazaar.

Offered for sale to the highest bidder will be a cross made by Fay Jean Hooker and a dinner for up to 10 people donated by Landy and Lori Warren.

Hooker, an Albany artist known nationally and internationally for her wood quilts, recently created the mosaic cross she has donated to the Bazaar’s auction. 

It is seven by 12 inches in diameter and is made of over 60 small wood squares covered with specifically selected cutouts from flattened aluminum beverage cans.

Hooker said that this work of art was inspired by the hymn “Jesus Paid It All.” 

Hooker’s failing health was recently restored by her faith in Jesus Christ, and each handmade cross is her testament of that faith. 

The seated four-course meal will be prepared and served at the Warren home. 

The winner of the silent auction meal will be able to choose between a mesquite smoked whole beef tenderloin or a bone in rib-eye rack as the entree. Rounding out the menu will be appetizers, salad, sides, dessert, and beverages.

The silent auction proceeds will go into the Circle’s fund.

Featured Items

A family tradition for many Albany residents, the doors to the Country Store and baked goods area of the bazaar will open promptly at 10:00 a.m. to provide shoppers time to purchase baked goods and handmade specialty items. 

Items for sale in the Country Store will include homemade chili, breads, cakes, and baked holiday goods.

Locally canned produce and honey will also be on the shelves for buyers to select.

Other items in the store will include unique Christmas wreaths and assorted handmade gifts.

A limited number of specially prepared tenderloin meal baskets will be available.

“Each basket contains a delicious meal for four to six people,” said Kalico Leech, who serves on the organizing committee along with Liz Green, Prissy Harvick, Melanie McCarthy, and Daphne Holcomb. “The food is already cooked and frozen in clear oven-to-table dishes. This is the perfect meal to simply pull out of your freezer the night before your guests arrive and heat according to directions the following day.”

Included in each basket is a full beef tenderloin prepared by George Harvick, creamed spinach with artichokes, cowboy corn casserole, and a cream cheese poundcake.

The specialty food baskets have been a popular item since they debuted three years ago. 

Traditional Meal

The highlight of the bazaar is the traditional holiday luncheon that will be served beginning at 11:00 a.m. The old-fashioned turkey dinner, complete with all the trimmings, is prepared by church members. 

The lunch menu includes turkey, dressing, giblet gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberry relish, and assorted homemade pies.

Cost of the meal is $10 for adults and $5 for children under 10. Takeout dinners will be $10.

Bazaar History

The Presbyterian Bazaar began in 1900 and until the church’s educational building was constructed, the dinner was held in various empty buildings in Albany.

First held in the building that now houses Sanders Drug Store, other locations utilized for the annual fundraiser have included the Western Skies Hotel (since replaced by the Bank Park), the Courthouse, the Hartfield building (Momentum), and the Whitney Theatre.

The event has apparently always been well supported by Albany residents and their guests, and the large attendance each year meant that an equally large dining hall had to be obtained, so the location changed frequently, depending on what building was available.

There wasn’t a turkey dinner the first year, but members sold sandwiches, coffee, and hot chocolate while shoppers browsed through handmade baby clothes, aprons, and pillows, among other things, including items donated by merchants in Dallas, Fort Worth and Waco.

According to MMPC elder and historian Irene Wylie, the 1926 Bazaar had blankets hung from lines to partition the improvised kitchen from the dining area.

The kitchen featured washtubs filled with dressing that sat on the floor near the two big cook stoves that had been installed for the event, while the dining area had long, rough plank tables covered with spotless white cloths. The menu that year included turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, hot rolls, pies, and coffee.

“The food was set out on the tables in bowls and platters,” Wylie wrote. “This called for much passing and ‘neighborly’ talk.”

Then, as now, almost all MMPC members, not just those in the ladies group, helped with the bazaar.

The church is located at 211 S. Jacobs Street. Take-out orders can be called in at 325-762-2038.