The annual Christmas Craft Fair held over Thanksgiving weekend is always a big event in Fennimore with crafters, vendors, and makers of all kinds showing and selling their holiday themed items. But this year’s is extra special, as 2025 marks the holiday fair’s 50th anniversary.
What started out as a small, local holiday craft fair in the Memorial Building has grown from not only being held in that location, but spilling over into the gym of Fennimore Elementary School across the street.
The first Christmas Craft Fair was held in 1975, put on by a local group of ladies who had an art club, according to long time craft fair organizers Kris Fry and Jeri Novinska, who as crafters themselves, both became involved with the fair in 1977.
In 1982, after the original group of organizers “stepped down,” Fry, along with Novinska, carried on as the fair’s organizers.
With the fair ever expanding, a second location was added in 1983, with the cafeteria at the elementary school joining the gymnasium of the Memorial Building.
Fry and Novinska, who as Fry stated, “always agreed to agree,” described their partnership as being “each other’s right hand,” held the reigns of the Christmas Craft Fair through 1992, when Dixie Miles took over for a handful of seasons.
During her time, a second day was added for the fair, making it a two day affair over the holiday weekend.
With the fair growing still during her tenure, Miles also moved the second location from the cafeteria in the elementary school down into the school’s gymnasium.
After Miles’ tenure, Fry and Novinska were asked again by the Fennimore Area Chamber of Commerce to have a second run as organizers, which they agreed to, with the only change being the fair return to a one-day only affair on Thanksgiving weekend Saturday.
The fair continued strong in their second go around, although with the rise of Black Friday shopping in the 2000s where people were away from town “kinda hurt” the fair’s turnouts some years, according to Fry and Novinska.
But with technology stepping in and the rise of online shopping that turned around and “freed up weekends” again for increased craft fair visitors.
Fry and Novinska stayed on through the 2019 edition, after organizing nearly 40 editions of the Christmas Craft Fair. Both Fry and Novinska said they always worked well together over the years, but it was time for a new “generation” to take over.
Unfortunately no fair was held in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the 2021-2024 editions were organized by Fennimore’s last two Community Development Managers, Jessica Helms and then Lydia McLimans.
With the development manager position currently empty, Fry has returned as a “silent partner” as she put it, along with Stephanie Miles as the coordinators of this year’s celebration.
For the 2025 edition, which will be held from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29, the locations remain the same, the Memorial Building and elementary school gym, but with the number of vendors increasing from 65 to 71, the stage of the Memorial Building gym, as well as the American Legion Hall, also located in the Memorial Building, will also be used for vendor space, according to Miles.
Food, as always, will still be in the Legion Hall, and provided by the American Legion.
