Soooooo.... Close

I can hardly believe that it is less than a week to our PTA's First Ever Craftacular Craft & Vendor Fair. Signs are going up. Flyers are being passed around. I'm hoping that word of mouth is spreading. This has the potential to be an AMAZING fund raiser for Southwest Elementary School. The money that we earn from the rental of tables, donations from the food trucks, raffle ticket sales and SWE merchandise will all be helpful to us in upgrading our school's technological services. When all is said and done we will let you know what EXACTLY we are doing with the proceeds.
I hope you will consider coming out for the day. We have 40+ vendors selling a little bit of everything from makeup to art items to chocolate! There is bound to be something for a number of folks on your gift lists.
There will also be FIVE food trucks. Yep, I said FIVE food trucks. The good people of Will & Pop's, Chirba Chirba, CJ's Street Food, Mac-Ur-Roni and Little Dipper's Italian Ice are coming out to help support our school. Come and feed your family for a good cause. It's easier than cooking.
Even the Southwest Branch of the Durham Public Library will be coming out to join us.  Make sure that you stop by their table to say hi! We will also be graced with some wonderful entertainment options. A list of performances will be posted tomorrow.
A complete list of vendors will be available on here later in the week as will a list of businesses that don't have tables but have graciously donated items for our bucket raffle. You could win big! Tickets are $1/each OR $20 for your age in tickets. We will start pulling names at 1:30.

Hope to see you there. If you come out, make sure you find me and say hi!

And the Raffle Items Start Rolling In...

As the first ever Craftacular Craft & Vendor Fair draws near (in case you've forgotten it's on Saturday, November 23 from 9am to 2pm) we PTA members are busy scouring local businesses for donations to add to our bucket raffle. Not only will you be able to try for items from amazingly talented artists and lovely gifts from nationally known vendors but you will also be able to win items from round town.

I would like to thank the following businesses for already donating to our raffle:

Cafe Carolina

Moe's Southwest Grill

Char Grill

Blue Sky Oil and Vinegar

Kroger

Harris Teeter

We are also waiting to pick up items from several more businesses. We are truly thankful to all those helping us with this event. The money earned will be going towards building up our technological resources for the kids and teachers at Southwest Elementary School.

Make sure to let these businesses know how thankful we are by stopping in and shopping with them.

These Kids Need Your Help

School has started back up. Parents everywhere are sending up an exclamation of joy. If you are like me you are rejoicing in the fact that the bickering has been cut WAAAAY back. If you are also like me you are pleased to be seeing those parents you have begun to rely on for school gossip, to commiserate with over your kids trying times and to whom you brag when your kiddos have done something awesome.

Southwest Elementary School has a wonderful network of parents who really care about, not only their own kids but also the kids that they have gotten to know. It is a great school. The parents are eager to see their kids and MY kids excel. That's why we are calling on YOU for support.

Although spaces are filling up for the upcoming Craftacular Craft & Vendor Fair we would love to have you get involved. We are still looking for the following people:

Direct Sales Businesses

Artists

Crafters

Volunteers

Food Truck Owners

Any Small Business Owner who wants to set up a booth

People to advertise in the program for the event

Talented people to entertain throughout the day

Folks who would like to donate items for our raffle

People willing to advertise the event

and of course

People to COME AND SHOP!

This is going to be an amazing and community centered event and we would love you to be involved. The PTA will be using money earned from the event to help the school update its technological resources. Let me ask you:

Have you EVER seen a group MORE in need of technological advances?

For more info click HERE.

Where Will the Money Go?

Some may be asking 'What does Southwest Elementary School plan on doing with the money they earn from this Craftacular Craft & Vendor Fair'? (I know the conversations in my own head are always well thought out complete sentences. ;) )
One of the most important issues on our plate right now is technology. I know, what do those whipper snappers need with technology? In this day and age, in order to keep competitive, kids need to know how to use computers and all that they have to offer from a very early age.  This goes beyond making their names scroll diagonally across the screen with simple 'go to' commands. Last year my 2nd grader made a tri-fold flyer all about sound waves.
He did all the research online. He cut and paste what he needed. He created the layout for the flyer. It was quite amazing. I was proud of my kid. I know a lot of adults who wouldn't even know where to begin.
The thing with technology is that it changes all the time. The school needs more resources in order to keep current. Each grade has their own needs. These needs range from more desk top PCs to individual laptops for each student to use. As with most things, these requests require funds. You can help us out by:

 Renting booth space at the event

Telling your friends and family about

SWE PTA's Craftacular Craft & Vendor Fair

Coming to the event and purchasing from our vendors

Coming to the event and buying raffle tickets

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Thanks for reading!