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“The hands of Kendal” is how KaLex resident Ruth Tafel describes the Kendal Holiday Arts and Craft Fair she has helped organize since its inauguration in 2020.
The Arts and Craft Fair is the brainchild of Tafel and fellow resident Nancy Epley. Together with residents Meg Stackpole, Dona Bradish and Dianne Herrick, and with the assistance of the marketing department, the Arts and Crafts Fair Committee will once again host this signature event that features one-of-a-kind items handcrafted by residents and staff.
Dec. 1 and 2 will mark the fair’s fourth year in Kendal Hall, and the buzz has already begun. The event, which is open to the public, will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day in Kendal Hall on the Kendal at Lexington campus.
“The fair allows us to become closer with our local community, and it gives us retirees an opportunity to be creative, useful, and hands-on,” said Tafel. It also allows them to be helpful, as this year, she is joined by a team of four additional residents and one staff member in planning the event.
On the shopping table already are ornaments, jewelry, cookies, wassail, jellies and jams, quilted table runners and placemats, paintings, pen and ink drawings, cards, wood crafts, and the woven handiwork of Tafel.
“I have always loved color and had a great appreciation of things made with hands,” said Tafel, a former school teacher who began weaving 40 years ago when a neighbor introduced her to a weaving instructor, and “the rest is history.”
