Great variety at Christmas craft show in St. Charles
Some fans of holiday craft shows are impulse buyers, but others like Tim and Patty Maroder of Plato Center are more methodical about it.
The couple first scoped out the 110 vendors on Sunday at the Christmas on the Fox Art and Craft Show in St. Charles, then took a lunch break before diving into the shopping.
"It looks really nice," said Maroder, former assistant fire chief in Elgin. "First we're having our chicken sandwich, which is really good, and then we'll go back in."
The annual show held Saturday and Sunday at the Kane County Fairgrounds offered Christmas wares and all manner of giftables, including hats, scarves, bird houses, quilts, jewelry and more.
Dave and Mary Glass of Downers Grove made out with some sweets - chocolate-covered Oreos and glazed apricots, to be exact - and a pair of Christmas angel earrings. "We've been here before but we don't come every year," Mary Glass said. "I go to a lot of shows like this. On Saturdays I go with a friend and on Sundays I go with my husband."
Dave Glass said he enjoyed the atmosphere. "They have really nice people, very cordial."
About 1,500 people visited the show Saturday, which was a great turnout, but Sunday was a little slower, organizer Robin Reed said. The show, born more than 30 years ago in St. Charles, has been held for the past nine years at the Kane County Fairgrounds, said Reed, who lives in Lily Lake.
Among the vendors was Randy Balkus, co-owner of The Rabbit Hutch out of Darien, which features sports- and Christmas-themed towels, scarves, bibs and more. Cubs paraphernalia still is selling briskly, Balkus said. "I hope to sell it through the spring and then the season starts, and it will be time for a new World Championship!"
Reed, owner and manager of Art of the Heartland, said she started as a crafter herself and takes pride in the variety that the show offers.
But mother-and-daughter duo Peggy Prinke of Glen Ellyn and Kelly Mogensen of St. Charles said they wished they had found more holiday-themed goods on their shopping expedition. "I thought it would be more Christmas-y," Prinke said. "But it's still nice."