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MIDDLETOWN — In a bizarre coincidence, many local organizations have scheduled their holiday bazaars this weekend.

No fewer than four bazaars in the Middletown area will offer discounted wares and food, with many of the proceeds going to charity.

One of the premier events in Middletown is the seventh annual MUM Yum Holiday Bazaar at the Miami University Middletown Campus Community Center, which runs today and Saturday, Nov. 21-22. Proceeds will go to Abilities First in honor of its 50th anniversary, said Carol Caudill, one of its organizers.

"With the cold in the air and the snow in the air, that will put people in the Christmas spirit," she said.

The Church of the Ascension in Middletown has had rummage sales before, but this Saturday will be its first holiday bazaar, said Jackie McMurray, who is helping to organize the inaugural event that will benefit the church's food pantry.

"We realized how much people need the food this year," she said.

A little farther west, St. John's United Church of Christ in Germantown holds its Christmas bazaar Saturday. For that bazaar's "trash and treasures" section, "we've gotten gobs and gobs of things all week," said Janet Withrow, the chairwoman of the event.

Bazaar organizers find events 'contagious'

Whether they help a charity, provide something to eat or simply fulfill a need to buy something cheap, holiday bazaars are a favorite event of many people in the community.

That's especially true of the MUM Yum Holiday Bazaar, which starts today, Nov. 21, and continues Saturday, Nov. 22.

"We start working on it about two or three weekends ahead. Through donations, we get a little bit of everything, and we start sorting them out ... we have an office here that looks like the North Pole," said Carol Caudill, one of the organizers.

The MUM bazaar began as a benefit for Louella Thompson's Dream Center and has raised as much as $1,000 in a given year. This year the beneficiary is Abilities First, in honor of the agency's 50th anniversary.

Wanita Hatton, who heads up the event, said she most enjoys "being able to help individuals help other individuals. We have tables here for Relay for Life, and student organizations that benefit the Salvation Army." Caudill said the event has a wide reach because "we not only reach into the community but into the campus.

"Everybody's working to make it happen."

A retired professor, Ed Knepp, also gets in on the act, contributing hand-crafted wood items to the sale, Caudill said.

The Church of the Ascension in Middletown usually has a rummage sale in the spring but held a holiday event this year to respond to increased need for the food pantry. This bazaar runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at 2709 McGee Ave., near the former Middletown Regional Hospital.

The overall event includes a collection of stuffed animals, small appliances, Christmas decorations, cookbooks, cookies and home-canned jelly, among other things, said Jackie McMurray, who helps coordinate the event.

St. John's United Church of Christ in Germantown has its bazaar from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the church on 201 W. Market St. The event includes a deli, a lunch stand, a bake sale and an appearance by Santa Claus.

Janet Withrow, the organizer of that event, says attendance has fallen off in recent years, partly because "After going to all these bazaars, you can only have so many Christmas decorations."

Still, the bazaar is the largest money-making project for the church, she said. And once people get started organizing bazaars it can be hard to stop.

"Once you do it, it's contagious," Caudill said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2836 or erobinette@coxohio.com.

Where to go

MUM Yum Holiday Bazaar, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., today, Nov. 21; and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 22, Miami University Middletown, 4200 E. University Blvd., Middletown. (513) 727-3200.

Pre-Christmas bazaar and cookie and bake sale, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 22, Church of the Ascension, 2709 McGee Ave., Middletown. (513) 424-1254.

Holiday Market Place, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 22, Preble County Art Association Fine Arts Center, 601 Hillcrest Drive, Eaton. (937) 456-3999. www.takepartinart.net.

Christmas Bazaar, 9 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 22, St. John's United Church of Christ, 201 W. Market St., Germantown. (937) 855-3598.