The Habersham County Senior Center was bursting with the sights, sounds and smells of the holiday season as it hosted its annual Christmas bazaar on Friday. The bazaar showcased crafts, food and home decor made by Habersham’s senior citizens while giving seniors and community members space to interact with and support one another.
Senior Center Director Kathy Holcomb says that last year, they weren’t able to have their Christmas bazaar due to COVID-19, but with many of the center’s seniors having received their vaccines and booster shots, they were able to safely gather for this year’s bazaar.
“They [the seniors] love it,” Holcomb said. “They’re so joyful and they’re getting to socialize and talk about what they do, and that’s the best part of it. It just fills my heart with joy.”
Holcomb said this year’s turnout was strong, and she says she’s “so grateful” for the community’s support of their senior center.
The event serves as more than a time for gathering, it helps Habersham’s seniors make a little extra money, while also helping the senior center continue to offer the programs it does.
“I came up with this idea because it’s a two-way win,” Holcomb said. “We rent the tables, not [at] a high price, but it helps us take that money to pay for our Christmas meal, [while] they get to sell their little trinkets, items, cakes and jars of jams and jellies, and they get to make some Christmas money.”
The seniors are happy for the opportunity to make a little extra cash during the holidays, senior center member Linda Turner of Clarkesville, who has enjoyed spending her day selling items to shoppers.
“The senior center serves a good purpose for us seniors,” Turner says. “This gives people a chance to make a little money at Christmastime . . . and it also gives people in the community a chance to see what’s here at the senior center.”
This isn’t the last event the senior center will put on this holiday season, with games, music, Christmas lights, a butterbean auction, gift exchanges and more coming this month. For more information on what’s going on at the senior center, check out their calendar here.
