Nevada Outreach hosting Heart & Hand Craft Show

Since 2013, Pahrump resident and crafter Randi Case has been hosting craft shows in the valley but with many years of successful endeavors under her belt, she is now passing the torch. The Nevada Outreach Training Organization is officially assuming both the Heart &Hand Craft Show and the Spooky Jingles Craft Show, with Darlene Hatfield taking the lead.

“Randi is stepping down from organizing craft shows,” Hatfield explained in a May 4 interview with the Pahrump Valley Times, with Case chiming in, “I just turned 74!”

Case has been organizing craft shows since the 1990s, when she resided in Reno and when she made the move to Pahrump, she decided to do the same here. Over the years, Case has placed a heavy emphasis on three things when it comes to her shows: ensuring all items for sale are 100% handcrafted; providing shoppers with a wide range of merchandise to choose from; and incorporating a charitable element.

“If you are a new vendor, you have to provide pictures that prove you are making the items yourself – tools, supplies and process photos. And we inspect once they set up,” Case explained. “We also try to make sure that we have a lot of variety. There is a limit on each type of vendor – there’s a max of three vendors with similar items. And at every show, we collect donations of diapers and baby wipes, which we give to Nevada Outreach to support what they do for our community.”

Case said the idea to hand over her semi-annual craft shows, Heart &Hand and Spooky Jingles, has been on her mind for quite some time but she was simply not going to give them up without knowing that they would continue with their original vision and charitable purpose, most specifically, assisting Nevada Outreach.

“I talked to a couple of other people about taking them over but they had their own nonprofits they wanted to support. That was a non-starter for me. I wanted the support to remain with Nevada Outreach, because we collect a lot of diapers at the shows,” Case detailed, while Hatfield noted, “It’s been a huge benefit for us.”

And the support of these craft shows is more crucial than ever. “When the federal government shut off all those grants last year, we lost a large chunk of our funding that we were previously able to put toward purchasing diapers,” Hatfield stated. “So, the craft shows are a really important thing for us.”

It was Case’s longtime friendship with Hatfield – which began in their Reno craft show days – that led Case to approach Nevada Outreach about possibly taking on her shows. In addition to knowing Hatfield would be able to handle the organizing of both events, Case said she was also delighted to know that all of the booth fees would go directly to Nevada Outreach, too.

“It struck me that they are a nonprofit, so they won’t have to pay for the building!” Case enthused. “For me, as a private organizer, I had to pay for the building. Now, they will get to collect all the booth fees, as well as all the diapers.”

As for those diapers and baby wipes, Hatfield said these are provided to the community through the Pahrump Family Resource Center, where residents can find all kinds of necessities, such as clothing, furniture, housewares, toys and more, all of which are donated and then given out free of charge.

At the moment, the diaper pantry is stocked with plenty of smaller size diapers, so Hatfield is hoping to see a lot of donations of diapers in sizes four and up.

This weekend will be the very first for Nevada Outreach hosting a show, with the Heart &Hands Craft Show kicking off on Friday.

“We’ll have cottage bakers, we have a lady who makes amazing Raggedy Anne dolls, we have one who makes lap quilts and bowl holders, we have a woman who burns designs into felt hats, like cowboy hats, and she does some handbags, all with incredible workmanship. We have a new vendor who makes cards, we have jewelry makers, we have crocheters who do little creatures, we have several artists, soap makers, candle makers. It’s a great variety,” Case said.

“And it’s the Friday and Saturday right before Mother’s Day so, if you’re looking for something fun to do with Mom, bring her out,” Hatfield encouraged, with Case adding, “And presents! It’s a perfect show for buying Mother’s Day presents.”

The Heart &Hand Craft Show is set for Friday and Saturday, May 8 and 9 at the Bob Ruud Community Center. The show runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com