<I>Eagle file photo</I><BR>At last year's Blue Mountain Hospital Auxiliary Bazaar, Chris Cronin looks over the goodies at the Grant Union Living Skills table, as Laurie Stinnett (right) offers assistance.

JOHN DAY – Still have some items not checked off that holiday gift list?

You might be able to finish it all off at two bazaars – in one location, no less – this Saturday.

Blue Mountain Hospital Auxiliary’s annual Christmas Bazaar will be held 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, in the Grant County Fairgrounds pavilion.

Local vendors and artisans will fill the pavilion with an assortment of goodies: birdhouses, baked goods, candies, handmade fishing poles, crocheted angels, dog coats, handcrafted furniture, barnwood furniture, toys, and needle-crafted items such as fleece throws and bibs – just to name a few.

Organizer Maudean Brown sold her ceramics at the first one; she thinks it was in 1969. She’s been participating in it every year since and has been running the show for the past seven or eight years.

Brown said the bazaar features only hand-crafted and homemade items for sale.

The success of the Auxiliary’s bazaar over the years, “is due to the high quality of products we have,” according to Brown.

“We also don’t mind having similar types of products at different tables,” she added.

Nancy Chase and her team will be running things in the kitchen with hot soup, pie and coffee ready to soothe and warm hungry shoppers.

And for those who look forward to Helen Bogart’s famous popcorn balls … she, and they will be there too.

Drawings for door prizes, donated by the vendors, will be given out every 15 minutes or so. Tickets for the drawings are $1 apiece or six for $5. Winners need not be present to win, with the prizes available for pickup later at the hospital’s gift shop.

Jolly old St. Nick himself will even be there, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., ready for those wish-list items and polaroid photos at $1 each.

Brown said that first year back in 1969, the bazaar was held in the American Legion’s Alec Gay hall and had about 10 vendors. As the bazaar grew, it moved to the John Day Senior Center for awhile before eventually finding a large enough home in the fairgrounds pavilion, where it has been for many years.

Now, there’s a waiting list for the limit of 72 table spaces – 73 if you count Santa’s spot.

Anyone left on the waiting list is held over for the next year.

“A lot of people want to get in on this one,” Brown said. Some of the vendors have been participating every year since the first bazaar, she added.

Money raised from the auxiliary’s bazaar goes to Blue Mountain Hospital. Some of the services and equipment that have benefited in past years are: fire extinguishers, new digital mammography machine, ambulance donations, a children’s swing bed and decorations for the nursery area.

And even more treasures will await shoppers across the way at the Fairgrounds in Keerins Hall.

Times for that bazaar will run the same, with drawings for gifts there too. Call the Fairgrounds office at 575-1900 for more information on the Keerins Hall bazaar.

For information on the auxiliary’s bazaar, call Maudean Brown at 932-4503.