SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) — If you’ve scarfed-down just about all your Halloween treats by now, there are more tasty enticements waiting for you in downtown Sioux Falls this weekend. First Lutheran Church is hosting its annual bazaar and Scandinavian Buffet Saturday, a tradition that dates back more than 80 years.

First Lutheran Church has turned into a merry marketplace full of Christmas items for visitors to fill out their shopping lists. People from all over the country make sure not to miss this annual bazaar.

“I heard that there’s a carload coming from St. Cloud this year. They come from Chicago, or the Cities,” Bazaar Coordinator Sharyl Wolf said.

The congregation sells all kinds of homemade crafts and linens.

“We sell a lot of quilts. We have woolen mittens that we sell. The big thing is the food,” bazaar volunteer JoAnn Gibson said.

Ah, the food. And lots of it, too.

“We have the meatballs and the krumkake, sandbakkels, rommegrot, and ris creme,” Wolf said.

By hosting this bazaar, First Lutheran is staying true to its Nordic roots when the congregation first formed more than a century ago.

“It was started back when they didn’t even speak English, back in the twenties. So, it’s been a long affiliation with Scandinavia,” Gibson said.

Setup for the bazaar started in earnest on Wednesday.
“Watch out! Gotta get through! Got a lot to do here!”
“I’m sorry, but you’re in the way for the elevator and that’s where we have to take this.”
As you can see, this is the final push to get everything ready for tomorrow.

“It’s like a zoo. We have probably 10 or 15 people hauling things downstairs up here and arranging and re-arranging and pricing, so it’s quite an effort,” Gibson said.

Sales from the bazaar raise thousands of dollars a year for missions, locally and globally. A congregation coming together to serve Scandinavian delights and in turn, serving those in need.

“We get the fellowship of doing it and just sharing with everybody. But we can help a lot of people,” Wolf said.

The First Lutheran Bazaar runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. But you’ll probably want to show up early. Church members say there’s usually a line outside the door by 7:30 a.m.