Fort St. John middle school to host craft fair in June

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Dr. Kearney Middle School will host its craft fair, showcasing unique, handmade items from local artisans. 

According to a Facebook post uploaded on May 18th, Dr. Kearney’s Craft Fair has been scheduled for Saturday, June 6th, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Dr. Kearney Middle School located at 92nd Street. 

The craft fair was started primarily to get school district staff together, said Bryan Barranti, the vice principal of Prespatou Elementary-Secondary and a former teacher at Dr. Kearney Middle School. 

Barranti said: “Through all the conversations…and finding out how crafty people were, all the different interests they had, I thought it’d be a neat way to showcase school staff differently to the public, and so that’s how it started.” 

When it first started, approximately three or four years ago, the craft fair was held only during Christmas, but now it has branched out to about five or six times a year. 

Although there is no real theme for the craft fair this time, he said: “I guess Father’s Day is coming up…then camping season and summer, so there’ll probably [be] a lot of things for [it], a lot of games and family-related stuff.”

The upcoming fair will feature knitted and crocheted products, woodworking games, homemade soaps, baked goods, and printed objects. 

“Our Christmas [fair], we’re now hitting…75 tables, [but] for this one you only get about 15 [to] 20 [tables because not much [is] happening,” he said, adding the Christmas fairs have “really” grown.

In the past, the fair has raised money for School District 60’s band program, but this time, no one has reached out. 

When asked if he had a message for the community, he said: “I really like to thank the community for always coming and helping out and supporting all our local crafters and vendors.”  

“Without their support, obviously, none of us would [have been] able to do this in the past.” 

People interested in selling their products at the craft fair can contact Bryan Barranti at bbarranti@prn.bc.ca by June 4th.