144 Exhibitors Featured At Stagg Music Boosters Arts And Crafts Fair

PALOS HILLS, IL – The mother of all spring craft fairs kicks off this Saturday and Sunday, March 16 and March 17, at Stagg High School 8015 W. 111th St., Palos Hills. This is one of biggest craft shows of the year in the south suburbs.

The fair will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Admission to the show is $3 for adults; free for children 12 and under.

The Stagg Music Boosters have lined up 140 vendors selling a wide array of arts and crafts, food and home party items.

Shoppers can browse through an assortment of candy, pastries, cookies, oils, honey crocheted items of all types, dog treats and accessories, goose clothes, stained glass, jewelry of all types and materials, wreaths made of mesh, material, and natural elements, live plants, Easter decor, photography, leather items, customized items, outdoor games, keychains and lanyards, doll clothes, children's teepees, bath and shower items, beaded pens, wood crafted items, fleece blankets and pillows, fabric crafts, diaper cakes and wedding favors, gnomes, candles, melts, and fresheners, spring outdoor decor, makeup and skin care products, trumbles, chair massages, and chiropractic services.

The Jazz Ensemble, an audition-based, co-curricular ensemble, will entertain shoppers and vendors at 1 p.m. March 16 in the Commons near North Gym. The student musicians rehearse twice a week November through May.

“Through performance and participation in the ensemble, students are immersed in several different styles of jazz and explore their creativity through improvisation,” said Robert Mecozzi, Stagg’s director of bands.

Christopher Betz, Stagg’s director of choral activities, emphasized that music programs are important in schools for many reasons.

“Music gives students another place at Stagg that they can call their own. Music opens opportunities for students to explore their abilities and to express their opinions and emotions,” Betz said. “The support of Stagg's Music Boosters is invaluable to our students' experiences as they not only provide additional staff to work with the students but also better-quality materials and experiences we would otherwise not be able to afford.”

Mecozzi added music is a “vital” part of being human.

“We listen to and study music in schools because it is one of the areas in which the imaginative, creative approach to self-expression is fostered,” Mecozzi said. “Because of this, music has a remarkably important role in the life of a high school student. Music provides students a chance to emotionally communicate to themselves and to others, and to express those emotions in an appropriate manner.”

The spring craft fair is one of the Stagg Music Boosters’ biggest fundraisers, the proceeds of which will provide more opportunities for the school’s performing ensembles, materials and extras.