Dozens of people crammed into the Hawthorne Convention Center on Nov. 17, winding through tables laden with crafts and around displays of decorations

Sherri Fence sells her jewelry at the Catholic Ladies Guild Bazaar in Hawthorne on Nov. 16. Dozens of people filed past Fence’s booth. (C.W. Wilkinson photo)

Dozens of people crammed into the Hawthorne Convention Center on Nov. 17, winding through tables laden with crafts and around displays of decorations, looking to get an early start on their Christmas shopping at the Catholic Ladies Guild annual Christmas bazaar.

Vendors sold everything from homemade blankets and quilts to hand-crafted snowman figurines; driftwood landscapes to hand lotion.

“Everyone comes and enjoys themselves, and it’s just a special event,” said Jean Justice, one of the event’s organizers. “It’s just a special event, I would say.”

Justice said the bazaar started about a decade ago as a way for people to sell their handicrafts and to help people shop for Christmas.

“They get to do a lot of shopping, because there are a lot of different vendors that come,” said Diana Munger, guild president. “And this year we’ve had a lot of vendors come from out of town.”

It takes more than a month for Justice to contact vendors and dole out table space.

The convention center buzzed with energy. People chatted with friends and sellers while the browsed the loud building.

“Everybody likes to do shopping, because we don’t have very many stores in town to shop at,” Munger said. “We don’t get the J.C. Penney catalogue anymore in town. It’s just nice to have different items presented to us in town and bring the community together.”