It’s a neighborhood thing! Lake Nokomis Craft Crawl set for Nov. 14

Kathleen Juhl

F.Renteria

For many years, the folks of the Nokomis East neighborhood have been selling crafts and enjoying holiday camaraderie on the second Saturday of November.
This year’s event will happen on Nov. 14 and feature Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church (3430 East 34th East 51st Street), Nokomis Square Senior Cooperative (5015 35th Avenue South), Minnehaha United Methodist Church (3701 East 50th Street) and the Lake Nokomis Community Center (2401 East Minnehaha Parkway).
Community craft events have a long history in Nokomis East. In the 19th century, the United Methodist Church sponsored the Ladies Aid Society Bazaar to help raise funds for the parsonage and church programming. Nokomis Square Cooperative has held its annual boutique for 40 years, and Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church’s Christkindlmarkt has been around for 41 years.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Bonnie Foslien, a long-time Nokomis East resident who now lives at Nokomis Square, remembers walking through the neighborhood with her friends looking for flyers on telephone poles that announced craft events. The sales took place not only at Nokomis Square, local churches and the community center, but also in private homes.
In 2008, the event became the current Lake Nokomis Craft Crawl.
This year, as you wander from event to event, you’ll find bake sales, craft sales, raffles, handmade gifts, work by local artists, white elephant sales, and music.
Looking for food? Breakfast and lunch will be available at Faith Lutheran, Nokomis Square, and Minnehaha United Methodist.
All these events are fundraisers to support the community. The churches give their proceeds to missions, and Nokomis Square and the Community Center use their funds to support senior and youth programming.
So, check out the Nokomis Craft Crawl on Nov. 14. You’ll participate in the neighborly traditions of a wonderful part of Minneapolis, do some holiday shopping and get some exercise!