Community Events

Come one, come all to the Country Fair

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One of Wantagh’s longest standing traditions makes its return this weekend as the Church of St. Jude will hold its annual Country Fair. This year is the 40th anniversary of the fair, which will feature the popular and highly sought-after Christmas mice.

The fair will be held indoors at the Episcopal church on Lufberry Avenue to ensure that it will go on rain or shine. There will be baked goods, gourmet food, gifts, holiday decorations and quilts for sale. The “junk boutique” will feature used items such as books and toys. Two popular staples will be back, homemade pickles and Vermont cheddar.

But that’s not all. To mark the anniversary, organizers have invited numerous vendors who will ne selling items such as jewelry, makeup, clothing, handmade crafts and more. A farmer’s market with fresh produce will also be added, and will be held outside if the weather permits.

Also new this year will be a children’s game area. The Rev. Christopher Hofer, pastor of the church for the past 10 years, said it will be a safe place for parents to send their kids while they go shopping.

Hofer noted that the fair is all inclusive, and open to people of all denominations. “It really is a community fair, open for everyone,” he said. “It’s a great place to come for Christmas or Hanukkah gifts.”

The New York Masonic Lodge will be hosting a safety ID program. Children and senior citizens will be able to get free identification cards.

There will also be numerous raffles. This year’s big prizes include $1,000 for the first-place winner, a 40-inch smart TV for second place and an Apple TV for third place. “This year we’re going to have the biggest raffle we’ve ever had,” said parishioner Jenn Garbowski, head of St. Jude’s communications committee.

Garbowski noted that there will also be close to 40 raffle baskets, donated by parishioners. Her own contribution is a yoga basket featuring a mat, DVDs and yoga balls. She said there is an unofficial competition among parishioners every year to put together the best and most desired basket.

The St. Jude Country Fair also means the return of the handmade mice ornaments. Every year, the “Mice Ladies,” a group of parishioners, create hundreds of handmade stuffed mice in costumes. There are a few designs each year, and this year’s mice will be dressed up as Santa Claus, a reindeer, an elf, and Little Red Riding Hood.

“We never have leftovers,” Garbowski said, adding that the mice have become a collectible item for many Wantagh residents. Her mother, Thora Hesseler, a member of the Mice Ladies, said there are people who have retired and moved out of the community, who still seek the mice every year.

Heeseler, a Wantagh resident of four decades, has been a member of the Mice Ladies for a year and a half. The group meets every Tuesday for two to three hours. Heeseler joined after she retired, but before that, she was a “body maker” where she would stuff and sew the mice at home, then send them to the group to be dressed.

The mice, she said, are certainly unique to Wantagh. “They’re different,” she said. “When the first started doing them, people started collecting them. I have so many I can’t put them all up.”

At the fair, Heeseler said she hopes to be stationed at the mice table. She loves to hear from parishioners about their mice collections.

In December 1985, one of the mice, the “plum pudding Christmas mouse” was entered into the Family Circle magazine Christmas ornament contest and won first prize. Hofer remembers his mother seeing that — they lived in Iowa — and making one for herself. Today, he is the pastor of the church where that mouse originated. “People in the parish and the neighborhood, they look forward to getting their yearly supply of mice ornaments,” Hofer said.

St. Jude’s has a membership of about 200 families, and has been in existence for more than 50 years. The Country Fair is its marquee event each year.

“It usually draws a huge crowd,” Garbowski said. “It is our biggest event of the year. It’s got something for everyone. It’s where I start my holiday shopping.”

40th annual Country Fair

When: Saturday, Nov. 8, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine
Where: The Church of St. Jude, 3606 Lufberry Ave., Wantagh
Admission: Free
For more information, call (516) 221-2505