Saturday event to set up shop at Earl Haig Secondary

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Ten Thousand Villages, the popular fair-trade Christmas bazaar that takes place every year at Harbourfront, will be coming to Willowdale for the first time this weekend.

The market is one of the oldest Fair Trade organizations in the world. It was effectively begun in 1946 by Mennonite Central Committee worker Edna Ruth Byler, who began the process by bringing embroidery from Puerto Rican artisans home to sell. Work that would have gone for pennies in Puerto Rico went for far more when shown to North American consumers. Using a network of volunteers, Byler sent the full value back to the artisans.

The program has expanded since then, importing home furnishings, textiles and other craftwork from villages around the world to bazaars that are run entirely with volunteer labour.

Until this year, anyone wishing to partake in Toronto would have had to go to Harbourfront.

But this year, volunteers in North York have been working hard to bring the program to Willowdale. Allison Eamer and her husband, Ward 23 (Willowdale) Councillor John Filion, led the tricky effort to set up a market with virtually no overhead.

"I went to the sale last Christmas and just thought it was a brilliant idea," said Eamer. "I got to chatting with my husband John Filion, and we began to wonder why there couldn't be something like that in North York, so folks didn't have to go downtown. We just sat on it and thought it was a good thing to do, then put out some feelers and were pleased to see the number of people who wanted to get involved."

So far, the group has grown to about 50 volunteers. And on Saturday, those volunteers will set up shop at Earl Haig Secondary School for the Ten Thousand Villages Willowdale Holiday Festival.

"No one earns a salary," said Eamer. "There's no income to be made, it's entirely operated by volunteers. We have some people who have experience as cashiers. They'll be running the cash station all day. We have a training session for the people doing the sales so they can learn about the artisans and the countries so they can answer questions."

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the school, at 100 Princess Ave. The event will feature products such as toys, musical instruments, holiday items and home decor from 27 countries.