With 45 years in business, this family's crafts are tied to N.L. traditions

Customers walked through a maze of handmade creations at the Jack Byrne Arena in Torbay over the weekend.

It was the annual Christmas Craft Fair, celebrating its 50th anniversary with 106 vendors, said Melissa Tarrant, executive director of the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador.

"They've all gone through the Craft Council's jury process," she said. "We hold them to a very high standard."

As if inside a crowded fish tank, shoppers walked in lines between vendors, looking from left to right at all the items available. Framed carvings of leaping whales, mugs in earthy tones, clothing, paintings and jewelry in silver and gold lined each side of the lane. 

In the four days of the fair, thousands of people showed up, said Tarrant. 

The family business

In a small booth at the maze's centre, selling knitted mittens and hats, Christine LeGrow was juggling her attention between customers.

Christine's husband, Derrick LeGrow, kept the queue moving. Their son, Derrick Jr., hovered nearby, hunting for piles of clothing that needed straightening or replenishing.

He said the family business operates like a farm. They all knit and contribute, and often even a simple hat is touched by more than one pair of hands.

The family has been in business for 45 years, Christine LeGrow said, after she caught the bug in the early years of the craft fair and felt a pull to offer her own creations.

"My grandmother knit, my aunties knit, my mom in particular, and it was a tradition I thought was really important to carry on," she said.

The fair has evolved over the decades, as vendors retired and new ones joined. One notable change was how environmental concerns influenced the crafts, with recycled materials appearing more often at various tables.

"People were hauling old fishing gear, old nylon ropes that had all faded and bleached with the salt water," Christine LeGrow said.

But at the core of her family business, she said, is the importance of celebrating traditional Newfoundland and Labrador crafts and stories. 

Each item they sell includes a small note explaining the inspiration behind its creation, along with some historical background.

Over the years, Christine LeGrow said, she has forged deep friendships. As artists shared their handmade art and traditions, a community around the crafts was formed.

"The more diverse we become, the more we appreciate other people's cultures and we learn to value their cultures equally with our own," she said. "And I think that will connect the entire planet eventually, and we will all get along better because of it."

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