St. Nicholas Bazaar draws crowd

By the time the doors of the Holy Trinity Orthodox Church opened for its annual St. Nicholas Bazaar, a small crowd had gathered to enter the popular event.

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St. Nicholas Bazaar draws crowd By Karen Engdahl The ShopperDecember 7, 2016 Katie Donovan and her eight month old Braden helped make pirogues for the bazaar. Photo by Karen Engdahl Katie Donovan and her eight month old Braden helped make pirogues for the bazaar. Photo by Karen Engdahl SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – By the time the doors of the Holy Trinity Orthodox Church opened for its annual St. Nicholas Bazaar, a small crowd had gathered to enter the popular event. The bazaar, a community favorite during the holiday season, has been held the first Saturday in December every year since 1979. “You have to get here early before the food is all gone; it’s usually sold out by 10 o’clock,” said Cynthia Zimnick, a parishioner working at the food table. The table, loaded with homemade breads, cookies, baked beans, and traditional Russian and Polish fare such as pierogies, kapusta (sauerkraut) and galumpkies, was emptying quickly as shoppers swept up the delicacies. “We work together as a congregation at the end of November to make the pirogies,” said Katie Donovan, a young parishioner who was completing a blog post about the bazaar for her Upper Valley Fun blog at uppervalleyfun.com. “I helped with the cooking and my son, Braden, who’s 8 months, helped with the entertainment!” Other parishioners busily assisted shoppers with the handmade crafts and wreaths. Many of those purchasing food and crafts have made the St. Nicholas Bazaar a regular part of their holiday shopping. “You can find traditional foods here you just can’t get anywhere else,” said a woman whose arms were full of breads, baked beans, cabbage rolls, and a handmade wreath. Janet Klimenok, a long-time parishioner, refinished and hand-caned several antique chairs to be included in the fundraiser. “These won’t last long!” exclaimed a shopper, looking at the price tags of $15 to $25 per chair. “Money raised at the bazaar helps fund Holy Trinity’s ongoing support of local charities such as the Family Center and the homeless shelter,” explained Father Peter Carmichael, pastor of the church. “We’ve also committed funds in the past to an orphanage in Mexico and other church missions.” Holy Trinity Orthodox Church was founded in 1905 by Alexander Hotovitsky, a missionary priest who helped start many Orthodox congregations in America. The church moved to its current location on Park Street in 1909; its earliest parishioners were Russian immigrants to Springfield. The church is a member of the Orthodox Church, which has more than 200 million members world wide, from Jerusalem to Greece to Russia, Japan, and through Africa and the Americas.