Many of Burlington County’s best-known crafters are sharpening their tools and honing their skills in anticipation of the annual Medford Leas holiday craft fair on Dec. 10 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Holly and gathering rooms at Medford Leas located on Route 70 in Medford.
“This fair is juried,” fair coordinator Art Hartwig said. “That means patrons are assured of a wide variety of high quality, unique treasures, just in time for gift giving.”
Hartwig went on to explain that profits from the craft fair would go to the Medford Leas resident assistance fund that pays expenses of residents who may have outlived their resources.
“We have many residents in their late 90s and several over 100,” he said. “We all work hard to assure that the residents assistance fund is available to help residents who may have outlived their financial resources.
“It is an inspiration to all the crafters to use our talents for such a good cause,” Hartwig added. “It was a way for us who have skills and an interest to earn some money and make donations that we might not otherwise be able to make.”
Among the varied offerings at the fair will be home goods, jewelry, lathe-turned wooden bowls, plants and table decorations, photographic note cards and many other handcrafted items. Many of the area’s crafters have earned local recognition for their products.
This year marks the fifth year the craft fair is happening.
It will include about eight people internal to the community and many from the Rancocas Woods craft coop.
Hartwig said they hope to raise more than $8,000.
He said he hopes the fair shows people how vibrant life can be for seniors.
“I think getting the public to come in an experience our facilities and to see that the people who live at a continuing care retirement community are not people who are just sitting around and they still have abilities and skills and enjoy working” on something, Hartwig said. “I think it’s very important for the outside public to recognize that it’s very possible to have a life that’s very active and very productive here in this kind of a community.”
Hartwig, a Medford Leas at Lumberton resident, is a retired manager at IBM and long time furniture hobbyist. He has specialized in crafting wooden bowls from felled trees that he finds throughout Burlington County.
His bowls are lathe turned and in the process, the delicate graining becomes enhanced and glows in the finished pieces. Working with wood has taken on spiritual significance for Hartwig.
“If I can transform a block of wood from a tree that once graced a woodland into a beautiful bowl which will bring natural beauty into someone’s home, that, in itself, rewards my labor,” he said.
Mort Yeomans, a Medford Leas at Lumberton resident, brings a storied background to his craft. Mort was schooled as a silversmith and has maintained a lifelong fondness for intricate carving and carpentry.
This year he will show a large variety of finely crafted wooden necklaces, as well as earrings from his wildlife, classic and fall collections. His lightweight earrings are made from cherry wood and intricately grained African zebrawood and are priced in the $12 — $15 range.
This year Yeomans is also offering wood sculptures from his crab and lobster collection evoking a touch of the Jersey shore.
Doug Springer, Medford Leas resident, a retired lawyer and finance director from Campbell Soup Company, has always been a woodworking hobbyist. His one-of-a-kind modestly priced wooden tissue holders, expanding bookends, and stationary caddies are both beautiful and practical.
Debbie Lux, a talented horticulturist and Medford Leas employee, brings her work talent to her decorative holiday centerpieces (in the $5-$10 range) that often include findings from the woodlands that surround the Medford Leas campus.
The event is sponsored by the Medford Leas Residents Association, under the aegis of Medford Leas, a nationally accredited, Quaker-related, not-for-profit community for those 55 and over, with campuses in Medford and Lumberton.
The community is located at 1 Medford Leas Way in Medford, with an entrance off Route 70 near the junction of Route 541 (Main St., Medford).
For further information or directions call 609–654–3000 or visit the website http://www.medfordleas.org.
