Students enjoy arts and crafts, food, and a tree lighting while local vendors display their homegoods
Just a few days before the Franklin Fire, Our Lady of Malibu community was celebrating the holidays with their annual Holiday Marketplace. The event had a variety of vendors selling their home goods and crafts, such as candles, pottery, and jewelry makers, and even baked goods. The guests also enjoyed a raffle and food from Ardi’s Eats and Sweets.
Parent Guild Lead Committee member Joey Amini and his daughter Sienna were enjoying the arts and crafts table at the event.
“We have about 18 vendors and a local food truck here,” Amini said. “We have our bake sale here, which is provided by the Parent Guild, we have a raffle this year that we didn’t have in previous years, one of our moms is selling her pickled goods, clothing, and all kinds of different things, it’s a really nice way to bring our community together.”
After meeting the vendors, locals enjoyed delicious baked goods and burgers from Ardi’s Eats and Sweets.
The evening ended with the annual tree lighting and Amini said the kids enjoyed the snow and lights.
“That’s a little more of a secret,” Amini said.
Before the Franklin Fire, OLM and other schools began celebrating the holiday season.
“It really is the most wonderful time of the year,” Amini said. “We have other events and class parties, we have movie days yesterday, our campus is all decorated, it’s really nice.”
Parent Guild Gina Longo said the holiday boutique at Our Lady Of Malibu school is a cherished event for our community.
“Vendors come together to support our school. We have an incredible group of unique vendors ranging from local jewelry to handmade knitted scarves and hats to homemade pickled food and homemade jams,” Longo said. “We celebrate the holidays and our community and come together to support Our Lady Of Malibu school.”
Students were singing Christmas carols at the Crèche on Webb Way, a dancing contest show and shopping event at Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades.
“This is the first time our school is doing this kind of event,” Amini said.
OLM also collaborated with Malibu Brewing Company and Ollo’s to raise funds for the school. A percentage of the proceeds benefited OLM schools.
Due to the Franklin Fire, the school had to postpone their Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12.
“We are happy to report that some our staff members have been able to get onto the OLM property to assess its conditions and all of our structures have survived!” OLM posted on Instagram on Dec. 12. “We are working with a remediation crew to clean up our office, church, and hall so we can welcome parishioners back to Mass and the many faith-filled events planned for the rest of the years. We will update you on our campus’ status as we learn more.”
The school is also updating the community on their school recovery progress.
“These challenging times have shown us how important it is for us all to stay connected, so we encourage you to ensure the parish has your correct email address and other contact information,” the school said in a statement shared on Instagram. “You can update your contact information via our parish registration from our website or register at our parish via the forum if you have not done so already. God bless you all and keep you safe. We will be in touch soon.”