Two holiday sales side by side on Glenashton Drive Saturday

Iroquois Ridge High School's Holiday Marketplace, a gift and craft show that organizers say began when the school opened in 1994, fills the school at 1123 Glenashton Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7. Next door, the Town of Oakville's Hidden Treasures Bazaar runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Iroquois Ridge Community Centre, 1051 Glenashton Drive, so shoppers can easily take in both.

The school's principal says the marketplace brings in vendors from across the GTA, and everyone is welcome. Over the years it has leaned toward handmade goods, organizers say, with some vendors travelling from as far as Barrie. Some regulars line up early, sometimes in the cold, just to be first to see what's on the tables.

The show was created and first organized by Sonia Ennis, who was on the original staff when the school opened, a group known as "The Pioneers." Organizers say she kept working on the marketplace for many years, including several after she retired.

Students do much of the heavy lifting. Each year, volunteers in Grades 9 to 12 set up on Friday afternoon, greet and help vendors early Saturday morning and clean up afterward; organizers call them the heart of the operation. Raffle ticket money has bought iron benches, one of many purchases the marketplace has made with those funds.

The bazaar next door is one of the holiday sales put on by the Town's Seniors Services, which runs programs and activities for older adults. The Town says proceeds go back into those seniors' programs, services and activities.

Two more Town sales follow: the Christmas at Colborne Craft Sale at the Sir John Colborne Recreation Centre for Seniors on Sunday, Nov. 15, and the Trafalgar Park Christmas Bazaar at Trafalgar Park Community Centre on Saturday, Nov. 28.