Want to stretch your gift-giving dollars and support three worthy causes at the same time? You don’t have to drive out of town to find booths for various home consultants, businesses, crafts and baked goods at the annual Holiday Expo sponsored for the fourth year by the Rushville Business and Professional Women (BPW).

St. Mary’s School PTA is on board for the second year and joining this duo is the Rushville Republican NIE program.

Glenda Smith of the BPW outlined the history of the Holiday Expo.

“We started at the RCHS cafeteria for two years and then, responding to our surveys of our vendors, we moved last year to RES gyms due to added space and added parking,” she said. “After Tri Kappa stopped having their Craft Bazaar in October there was a void locally for vendors to have a place to sell their products. Mary Buhler headed up a holiday program at the Rush County Conservation Club. It was a cold and windy day for it but the idea hatched. The next year Christy Field joined BPW and offered to head up a committee to put on a Holiday Expo.

Field chaired the committee for three years. She won scholarships from BPW to go back to school and is now working as a nurse in Greenfield.

The addition of St. Mary’s PTA came as an example of working together for good causes.

“Last year we also added St. Mary’s PTA as a co-sponsor,” Smith said. “They were having their Christmas Bazaar and Bake Sale the same day and we decided to join forces and not compete. This year we have added the Rushville Republican NIE/Newspapers in Education as a co-sponsor. This was due to a similar conflict and again we decided to join forces.”

“Each co-sponsor gets the opportunity to provide the public with information about their group, whether it is by selling Christmas items to provide funds to keep St. Mary School in good shape or by having a table telling what NIE is and how it is valuable to the schools of Rush County or by gaining funds for the BPW scholarship. It is a win/win/win situation,” Smith continued.

Dustine Hedrick, circulation manager at the Rushville Republican and overseer of the Newspapers in Education program, explained how NIE became involved. NIE is the program which provides schools with free copies of the local newspaper for use in the class rooms.

“I was thinking of ways to raise money for NIE when I remembered something that had been done in the past, a One Stop Shop. I ran ads looking for people interesting in setting up; that's when I got the call from Glenda inquiring about our One Stop Shop. Somehow or another we decided to cosponsor the Holiday Expo with BPW and St. Mary's PTA.”

She noted that 40 percent of booth space rentals will go to the NIE program. The rest BPW will use for community projects. The $1 admission price goes towards the BPW’s annual working woman scholarship. St. Mary’s profits will benefit PTA programs.

She echoed Smith’s view of the combined efforts.

“It's a win, win for everyone thanks to vendors and the people that attend the Expo,” Hedrick said.

According to the BPW representative, the Expo gives vendors an indoor facility for selling their products. A map of the vendors will be given every shopper as he or she enters. Door prizes will be given by the vendors.

“We will have vendors representing Pampered Chef, lia sophia, Beauti-Control, Ronan's Woodworking and many others,” Smith said. “The BPW will have a food booth in the hallway between the gyms for a snack to keep your strength up to shop!”

“This year the final prize will be a handmade magazine rack made by my dad, Joe Sink of Sparta, Tenn.,” Smith said. “He no longer does woodworking due to health problems.”

Although BPW will not be a sponsor next year, plans are being made for the Expo.  

“With BPW disbanding in May 2009, the Rush County Victims Assistance (RCVA) is looking to take our place and continue the tradition of a forum for local people to buy special gifts for the holidays,” Smith concluded.



Jan Voiles can be contacted at jan.voiles@rushvillerepublican.com or at (765) 932-2222 ext. 107. Add a comment to this story at www.rushvillerepublican.com.