GREENFIELD — The holiday season is a time of tradition, and Baystate Franklin Medical Center has one of its own.
For more than 40 years, current and retired employees and volunteers have come together to bring their wares to market in an effort to support hospital programs.
Baystate Franklin’s annual artisan and craft fair will take place on Friday, Dec. 6, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the hospital’s main conference rooms and lobby, according to a press release from the hospital. The public is invited to attend.
Items for purchase include totes, jewelry, wood crafts, games, bath and beauty products, pottery, candles, fabric, wreaths, maple products, knitwear and toys.
One of the craftspeople, Val Luther, knits and crochets items such as animals, shawls, scarves and hats. She learned the craft from her grandmother and took it up again after retiring about 10 years ago. This will be her fourth time participating in the craft fair.
“No one item is like the other,” Luther said. “I don’t have a stack of one thing, but you get to pick the color. Everything is one-of-a-kind.”
She said the best part of Baystate Franklin’s craft fair is that it’s small and intimate.
“There’s lots of variety so you’re not going to see the same thing at every table,” she noted. “It’s a friendly craft fair. There are people who know each other and are warm and friendly.”
According to the release, proceeds from this year’s fair will be used to purchase items for the hospital’s Comfort Cart — a surplus of eyeglasses, earbuds, books, toys and other items requested by patients that may have been left behind at home.
“When someone isn’t feeling well, we want to do whatever we can to help them,” said Pat Misiun, Volunteer Services staff assistant. “Sometimes providing the small things can make a big difference.”
The craft fair, which is organized by the Volunteer Services department, serves multiple purposes, Volunteer Services manager Becky George explained.
“This annual event was established as a way to provide a holiday shopping opportunity for employees and has expanded to include the community, which has embraced this as a holiday tradition,” she said. “It feels good to help your neighbors who may be patients at the hospital, and buying from local folks is important not just during the holidays, but throughout the year.
“Not to mention, these are artisans who are donating their time, talent and proceeds to give back,” George continued. “Giving a gift that you purchase at the fair means you have also brightened the day of a patient; that feels like an added bonus.”
For more information about the craft fair, call 413-773-2318.
Reach Melina Bourdeau at 413-772-0261, ext. 263 or mbourdeau@recorder.com.