The former Thomasville School is filled with gifts during its annual Christmas bazaar, a fundraiser for the local landmark.
Shoppers walk away with treasures in colorful bags, but the most important wrapping on the event is the building itself, which is a gift in the small Oregon County community.
The old stone schoolhouse was built in 1940 as part of the Works Progress Administration, a federal relief program that gave men jobs. Students attended classes there through the 1960s, when the school consolidated with Alton and became the Eleven Point Valley Community Center, now a CFO agency partner.
It’s hosted local events, birthday parties, reunions and even is home to a branch of the Oregon County Library. Yet these things were threatened in 2017, when historic floodwaters overtook the aging structure.
Despite the devastation, Brenda Bell says there never was much debate over the building’s future.
“It just means a lot to the whole community,” said Bell, a leader at the community center and a former student. “We would really feel a loss if we didn’t have it.”
Many hours and dollars were needed to restore the building, and that’s what led to the bazaar’s start in 2017. The event raised so much money and joy that it’s continued ever since.
Volunteers shop estate sales and search for after-Christmas bargains — and bring some items back to life — to fill the community center, creating a winter wonderland for shoppers who line up at the door.
“I just think it’s a fun place to go — it’s kind of like Black Friday,” said shopper Pam Crews, who grew up in the area and still lives close by. “I see people I haven’t seen in a while.”
—by Kaitlyn McConnell
