Sister Maristella

Realize, of course, that the eight sisters living and working at St. Agnes did not give up their day jobs to make the bazaar a reality. School went on each and every day with classrooms of 50+ students. At this point there were only two lay teachers employed, the sister principal was also the 8^th grade teacher, and one sister taught full time music. The sisters, of course, did church work, taught Latin to the altar boys (girls were not yet in the picture), taught religion classes to children from the parish attending public schools as well as in Athens and Sherman, and did their own cooking and cleaning. Many of them attended evening classes at the motherhouse through an affiliation with St. Ambrose College and/or took classes at Springfield College in Illinois.

What was envisioned was a small bazaar to be held in the fall of 1967. What actually developed was described in one newspaper article as “the most bizarre bazaar in local history.” Somehow the endeavor almost ran away from its originators. At times, the sisters of St. Agnes felt as though they were “hanging on the tail of a wild tiger” but loving every minute of it!

The work began in earnest:

• Sisters made several trips to Jackson, Miss., to collect driftwood that would be used in making floral centerpieces (a local florist helped with these.)
• Coffee cans were taped together and covered to make hassocks.  Three-gallon ice cream cartons were covered with fabric or contact paper and fashioned into waste paper baskets.
• Decoupage was popular at the time and could be found in many sizes, shapes and forms.
• Knitting needles, crochet hooks, and needles and thread were in constant motion.

Anything that was set down, it seemed, was decorated, labeled, and a price tag was attached to it.

During the winter and spring months, the sisters held a monthly “busy bee session” at St. Agnes. Sisters came from a 100-mile radius to work for a few hours or the whole day on items for the bazaar. A workroom was set up so that every sister could find a spot that suited her and her talents.

During the summer, thirteen sisters were assigned to work exclusively on bazaar items. Monsignor Guisti, pastor of St. Agnes, had ten outlets installed in a basement classroom of St. Agnes to accommodate the sewing machines and ironing boards. He also enjoyed checking on progress at least twice a day as he encouraged the workers. Remember, of course, that all this was happening before central air.

• The sisters from Jackson sent a beautiful ceramic nativity set.
• The sisters from Rogers, Ark., sent several imported hand-dressed dolls for the “sale of the century.”
• Sisters from Peru sent tapestries, wood carvings, and dolls designed by the people of Peru.
• Beautiful afghans, quilts, lace tablecloths, aprons, ornaments, ponchos, pillow cases, tree skirts, ceramics, luncheon sets, placemats, rosaries, oil paintings, and leather goods graced the tables that eventually overflowed with more than 50,000 items!

The pastor in Sherman, Ill., and his parishioners offered to host a chicken dinner to coincide with the bazaar. As it turned out, 3,700 dinners were served at Griffin High School and the proceeds went to the bazaar—the meal, preparation, and serving were a gift from the people of Athens and Sherman.

The bazaar was held in Sacred Heart Academy, October 29-November 1, 1967. It occupied the entire first floor, gym and reception area adjacent to the auditorium (which was dubbed “Marshall Field’s” a high-priced Chicago department store, as it held the higher priced items). To say it was a success would be an understatement. It was tremendous!

A Thank you note that the St. Agnes Sisters circulated following the bazaar read:

“Sincere appreciation is expressed to each of you who in any way helped to make our Dominican Benefit Christmas Bazaar such a success. Happily, we reached our incredible monetary goal of $25,000 (about $189,000 in 2018). We have, however, experienced an even greater and more heart-warming achievement.

Sharing joy, enthusiasm, and accomplishment while working with old friends and making new ones has been a truly gratifying experience. The new complex will greatly facilitate our work and prayer. We pledge continued contributions to the educational, cultural, spiritual and moral development of the community of Springfield. In this way, we hope to continue our THANK YOU through the coming years.”

There were annual bazaars thereafter, up through the mid-nineties. However, those who are part of history have to agree: there was only ONE BIG BAZAAR—no one is sure that they could have survived a second!