ALPENA — All Saints Catholic School is hosting its annual Merry Christmas Bazaar Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The bazaar is a school fundraiser that will benefit both the school and the junior and senior youth groups in the Alpena Catholic community. The youth groups will be able to continue to do different activities throughout the school year.

Grandma Mary Winton said the bazaar is very festive. She said the centerpiece of the bazaar is a Nativity Scene that was donated to the school.

Winton said ladies from all four parishes, St. Anne, St. Mary, St. John the Baptist and St. Bernard, jump in and help with the bake sale.

“My goal is to benefit the children, and to get all four parishes involved,” Winton said. “It’s a combination of all four churches. It’s a lot of work, but it’s fun.”

There’s a Christmas raffle with items that are worth at least $25, Winton said. There’s also a children’s raffle that will be run by the Girl Scouts and the Girl Scouts will keep the proceeds from the raffle to help support different activities.

People can participate in a cookie walk where they walk around a table and pick different cookies to take home.

“Everybody participates from the young people to the ladies from all the parishes,” Winton said.

Father Joe Muszkiewicz will be making homemade kruschiki, a pastry, for the bazaar. Winton said there are never enough so if people want one, they should go to the bazaar early.

Principal Alecia Dietz and Secretary Jayne Lusardi are making the lunch, which will be different croissant sandwiches, different kinds of soup, and a selection of desserts. The lunch is $8.

Winton said a lot of the same people come to the event because they like the raffle items, but new people also come to check out the event.

“We get families from out of town who come and they look forward to it every year,” Winton said. “It’s such an old tradition to have a bazaar of some sorts here that it just kind of fits right back in.”

If anyone has any questions or wants more information about the bazaar, they can call All Saints at 989-354-4911, Winton at 989-916-5449, or Diana Donajkowski at 989-657-4118.

Julie Goldberg can be reached at 989-358-5688 or jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jkgoldberg12.