By Elinor Tinsley
Last Saturday, September 20, 2025 the Bolivar Peninsula Cultural Foundation held our annual Fall Arts & Crafts Fair preparing for the official first day of fall on Monday, September 22, 2025 and kicked off fall with a bang. Though not the fall weather we would have liked, it was way better than rain, tropical storms or hurricanes and with 33 vendors (11 of which were new to the Fall Arts & Crafts Fair) selling a multitude of wares, great raffle items to take a chance on, food prepared by the Eagles, entertainment provided by The Girl Band, complimentary beer, wine and water for those of age and free margaritas offered by Beach Bum Bungalow, fun was had by all. From fall to Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas items, there were so many choices not to mention the great coastal items our customers have grown to love and expect each year. If you couldn’t find something you wanted here, then you just didn’t come to shop. If you missed this event, make your calendar as this event is always the third Saturday in September.
We have many thank you’s to give, but besides everyone who came out to support this event by shopping with our vendors, first we have to thank the wonderful volunteers of the Bolivar Peninsula Cultural Foundation for pulling this event off. Without our selfless volunteers this would never be possible. We would also like to thank the Crab Festival Charities for allowing us to host our event at the Swede’s Pavilion and for providing the wine. Thank you to officer Peña for donating his time to keep us safe and feeling comfortable. Thank you to Del Papa Distributors for providing us with the great craft beers for our guests and for the donation of the Modelo camp chair and two six packs for our raffle. Thank you to Dominic at Bolivar Trash, for once again securing the donation for our handicapped port-o-pot and the dumpster. Thank you to Dennis Rollfing and Tom Osten for all the behind the scenes work that got us to Saturday. Thank you to the Eagles for providing the food for guests to purchase, thank you to The Girl Band for their great performance and thank you to Beach Bum Bungalows for providing the margaritas for our guests.
If you did not receive a call on Saturday afternoon, then sadly you did not win one of the raffle items, but here are the lucky winners that did (first name, last initial only) and the gracious donors of the items.
50/50 Raffle – Millie J. – received $342.00
Patty Hagstrom signed/framed print donated by Crab Festival Charities – Denise H.
Glass creation of Patty Hagstrom original donated by The Glass Tattoo – Ange S.
Large Booze Basket donated by the BPCF board members – Patty S.
Small Booze Basket donated by Island Liquor – Karen C.
Talavera pieces donated by Linda Elissalde and BPCF – Lesli H.
Metal Art Pieces donated by Rick Schiffer – Tina G. – Everyone loved the mosquito especially!
Modelo camp chair & two six packs craft beer donated by Del Papa Distributors – Diana M.
Wooden rocking chair & sea turtle donated by Island Time Designs – Ben L.
Handcrafted seagrass items donated by From Bolivar With Love – Tina G.
Assorted vendors basket donated by multiple vendors – Linda D.
If you missed this great event, don’t miss it next year, Saturday, September 19, 2026 same time, same place. Thank you again to everyone that made this event a wonderful success and hopefully Linda Elissalde will be there next year to capture her great pictures of the crowd.
