Siblings Hayden, left, and Harper K. pose at their greeting card booth at the spring craft fair in Lake Placid on Saturday, March 16. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

LAKE PLACID — Customers and vendors from across the North Country flocked to Lake Placid Middle/High School on Saturday, March 16 for the third annual spring craft fair, which featured more than 70 booths full of crafts and snacks.

“It’s where the community gets together and sells things they want to make and share,” said LPMHS student Fiona Sullivan. “(There’s) lots of fundraising.”

Sullivan had a booth to benefit LPMHS’s student council with fellow students Sophie Spanburgh and Danna Perez. Next to their booth, the Class of 2025 took over the gym concession stand, selling popcorn and drinks to benefit their class. Proceeds from admission — $3 per person, excluding children — went to the Class of 2024.

Sullivan, Spanburgh and Perez decided to use their booth to sell treats with a Mexican flair.

“We have Mexican cookies and Mexican coffee. They’re handmade and they’re called ‘polvorones.’ It comes from the word ‘polvo,’ that means dust in Spanish,” Perez said. “We came up with this idea because we were looking for something different and I’m Mexican-American.”

Lake Placid Middle/High School art teacher Sandy Huber, left, and eighth grade student Echo Staves sell pottery at the spring craft fair in Lake Placid on Saturday, March 16. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

Other LPCSD students, as well as faculty, got involved in the fair as vendors. Art teacher Sandy Huber had a booth for her pottery, which eighth grade student Echo Staves helped her to run. Among Huber’s wares were jewelry, kitchen sponge rests, and even some functional birdhouses and air plant holders she created as examples for her adult community course on functional hand-built pottery.

Staves said that Huber has helped her grow as an artist, which is why she decided to help her run the pottery booth at the craft fair.

“She really encouraged me to show my art to people,” Staves said. “She just really made me confident.”

She added that watching a working artist like Huber make money from her artwork was “inspiring.”

“She’s showing me if you work hard enough, you can put your mind to anything and you can sell your work, too,” Staves said.

Cristina Sferlazza, right, sells homemade cake pops at the spring craft fair in Lake Placid on Saturday, March 16. Sferlazza traveled down to the fair from Clinton County. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

Near the entrance to the gym, siblings Hayden and Harper K., both 6 years old, had a booth where they were selling greetings cards, bracelets, banana bread and apple pie.

“All of these cards we made, except Mom helped with the fireworks one,” Harper said.

“And Mom started folding the cards after (we copied them),” Hayden added.

The siblings’ little brother drew some of the cards, too. Altogether, they had a stock of 110 cards and 32 bracelets to sell during the craft fair. The cards included designs for Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Halloween as well as non-holiday cards depicting trees, hearts and a rainbow butterfly.

“It’s our first time ever at the craft fair,” Harper said.

Kinnon Appleton, owner of the roadside pop-up Blue Line Bakery, restocks her miniature lean-to with cookies at the spring craft fair in Lake Placid on Saturday, March 16. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

An hour into the craft fair, they had made $14 from three customers and were a big hit with attendees. LPMHS student Spanburgh said that their cards were “absolutely adorable” and the highlight of the fair.

Harper and Hayden’s mom, Kaysie, said their first craft fair was a good way for the kids to learn about commerce and turning their hobbies into spending money.

“It’s teaching them about business, how to make money, how to work hard for the things that you want.”

Upstairs, in the cafeteria, another hobby-turned-business enjoyed a busy few hours. Cristina Sferlazza had traveled from Altona to run a booth for her baking business, Cristina’s Cake Pops. Sferlazza is a home baker who, like Hayden and Harper, decided to start selling her creations on the side.

“I’ve been making these for my kids for over a decade, and then through word of mouth and friends of friends, I’ve gotten better and better at making them,” she said. “It brings me joy. It’s my passion, and I only do these craft fairs a few times a year.”

Members of the Lake Placid High School class of 2025 sell concessions at the spring craft fair in Lake Placid on Saturday, March 16. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

Sferlazza makes 30 different flavors of cake pops. On March 16, her cake pops were mostly spring and Easter-themed, shaped like bunnies, ducks and carrots. She was one of several bakers to set up at the craft fair — other bakery stands included Lake Placid’s Blue Line Bakery and Plattsburgh-based Carley’s Cookie Jar.

LPMHS student Sullivan said that the craft fair is great way for the Lake Placid community to get to know one another’s hobbies and interests.

“It shows a lot of personality for each person,” she said. “You find out a lot about other people and it’s just really cool to be able to support each other, because that’s what communities do.”