The Legacy Senior Living Facility of Victor, NY, a small town on the outskirts of Rochester, NY, recently held its first-ever Legacy Crafts Fair in early Fall and not only pulled in over 40 vendors, but attracted a large and appreciative audience as well.
Craft Fairs are a big item in and around the city of Rochester, New York. And in fact, during the year there are some big events that take place throughout the city including Art at the Armory and Rochester Clothes Line Art Festival. But there are plenty of smaller craft fairs as well and that’s the way it should be, because if you’re a crafts-person spending countless hours creating a work-of-art, you need any outlet available to display your wares.
Remarked Senior Living Specialist and event coordinator Ms Denise Benedict, “The purpose of the craft fair was two-fold: to make sure the local community knows about our facility and the great service and work we provide but more importantly to give the Legacy resident’s a sense of empowerment and the feeling that they contributed to the success of the event.”
And a great success it was. Some 44 vendors brought craft items ranging from wood-carvings to handmade felt scarves to jewelry, quilts, dolls and more. From a merchant’s perspective the fair was a real boon from the start as Denise offered vendors free vendor space with no vendor fee attached. Add to that the superbly comfortable indoor surroundings of the facility’s main building which is the conduit to all Senior’s activity be it a hot meal, a card game or a good book. And while the Legacy facility provided a built-in audience thanks to its resident, there was just as much, if not more interest generated from the local community.
Commented visitor Jean Moreau of Rochester, “…There was a tremendous variety of craft items on display, all handmade and all of it very, very nice. Unfortunately I can’t take it all home with me!”
The future bodes well for the Legacy Craft Fair. Denise envisions subsequent craft fairs to be run entirely by the residents themselves who aided in coordinating the event by acting as guides, providing coffee and answering questions to visitors.
Added Denise, “…the generosity on our part was exceeded by the interest demonstrated by the local community and the crafts-persons themselves. It definitely exceeded our expectations.”