NEW DIXIE — The annual St. Boniface Catholic Church Bazaar in New Dixie has been a tradition “forever,” said Diane Gottsponer, the event’s chairwoman, and it’s scheduled for May 17 this year.
Festivities will start at 11 a.m. — immediately after the 10 a.m. Mass — and will culminate at 3 p.m. with a raffle drawing for cash prizes. The church is on Arkansas 60 in Perry County, 5 miles west of the Toad Suck community.
Gottsponer, a member of the parish for about eight years, has coordinated the bazaar for the past three years. She’s also the treasurer of the event.
“The elders in the church, what they’ve told me is that years ago, the ladies in the church would cook a meal,” she said. “They’d get there bright and early and fry chicken, and everybody would come out for a picnic. As time went by, the picnic turned into the traditional bazaar.”
Max Nutt, (pronounced Newt), who has lived in the small community of New Dixie all his life, said his grandfather Joseph Nutt helped build the church. The parish was established in 1879, Max Nutt said, and the first church burned in 1906 and was built back the same year.
It’s a beautiful piece of architecture that is photographed often, Gottsponer said.
Nutt, 73, said he has gone to the event all his life. His father used to run the drink stand at the bazaar, he said.
“He’d sell Cokes and all kinds of drinks in bottles — back then, you had to have a bottle opener. They were in big metal tubs with chunks of ice in it,” Nutt said.
Gottsponer said this year’s event will have many of the old favorites, along with a couple of new activities.
The popular ham-and-bacon booth will be back, she said, where participants pay $2 to spin to win either of the meats.
“We have old-fashioned carnival-style booths, where it’s mainly for the kids,” she said. Tokens cost 50 cents each for the games, which include a duck pond, a football toss, a toilet-paper toss, a Plinko board, a balloon-dart game and a bounce house. Pony rides are available, too, she said.
New this year are $5 carriages rides by the Little Rock Carriage Co.
“There’s a beautiful lane that’s right there by the church; they go down and turn around and come back,” Gottsponer said.
Another addition is a drag-racing car that will be on display, owned by teenager Madelyn Roper of Conway, who attends the church, Gottsponer said.
“She’ll be there, and she’ll be signing autographs and let kids look over her car and sit in it,” Gottsponer said.
Bingo will be going on all day under the pavilion, she said, and multiple prizes will be awarded. St. Boniface T-shirts will be for sale, too, Gottsponer said.
Arts and crafts booths will be located inside the Knights of Columbus Hall on the church grounds — “anything from crocheted blankets to painted artwork; I think there’s even a dozen eggs,” Gottsponer said. A silent auction will be available inside the hall, too. The eclectic list of auction items includes silver dollars from the 1800s, she said, and iron benches. Also, the shop classes at Perryville and Bigelow high schools are building wooden Adirondack chairs for the auction.
“We try to get the whole community involved,” Gottsponer said. The annual bazaar is open to the public and to all denominations, organizers said.
And just as it was in the beginning, the meal is a highlight of the bazaar, she said.
An all-you-can-eat meal of either beef brisket or chicken, with sides and dessert, will be served in the Knights of Columbus Hall. The cost is $12 for adults and $6 for ages 6 to 12. Children ages 5 and younger may eat free. Takeout meals are available by calling the hall at (501) 759-2896.
Max Nutt and his brother Lee Nutt have been in charge of smoking the meat for “20 years, at least,” Max said, and Gottsponer said Lee’s rolls are legendary.
“I’ve kidded with him that he really needs to teach his boys how to make those rolls; obviously, he’s been doing it forever. There are some people who come over when they have the spaghetti suppers there just for the rolls.”
The event will come to a close at 3 p.m., when people tend to gather for the raffle drawing to win $1,500, $500, $250 or $100, Gottsponer said.
The money raised will go primarily toward the upkeep of the church and grounds.
“It’s the only fundraiser that St. Boniface Parish has each year,” Gottsponer said. “We also do community service through Parish Religious Education, … and we take care of the shut-ins who are no longer able to come and participate in Mass.”
For more information about the bazaar, call Gottsponer at (501) 391-2340.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.