On November 15, 2025, a Holiday Craft Fair was held at the Menomonie High School. Holiday Craft is a fun event to go with families and friends! There were over 190 vendors to help out this year, just 54 more vendors than last year. Everyone had a great time seeing all the varieties of the items that many people have made.
Three years ago, a first soccer parent meeting was assembled to discuss the soccer program’s budget. Being extremely low, the budget needed boosting. The low budget affected the team’s appearance and activities. Due to that, the soccer team, along with their families, planned out a fundraising program.
As they came together, they were brainstorming these ideas:
- Pumpkin sales
- Bake sales
- Smaller community events
- Traditional booster fundraising
The 2024 Craft show made a huge difference for the 2025 season, providing resources that are directly beneficial to every member of the team and their families. This year’s commitment towards the players was such a heartwarming experience, making soccer accessible to all.
The funding allowed the program to start with essential gear and facilities. Those funds helped provide new parkas and backpacks for the first time ever, immediately boosting their appreciation. Missing uniform pieces were replaced across the board. They also invested in full concessions equipment, including crockpots, warmers, and a grill which allowed them to offer an expanded concessions menu at home games, benefiting the entire school community. Team bonding was prioritized with a memorable team outing at Action City & Ropes Course
Beyond gear and concessions, the money drastically improved team support, analysis, and morale. The program now boasts a specialized soccer VEO camera system for crucial game analysis which gives coaches deep insights on the players performance. The funds covered team photography sessions for posters and expanded media sessions as well as the cost of senior banners and team posters.
The supportive community gave enough to also include the parents, providing flowers for families and coaches on Senior Night, Youth Night, and Family night. The season was capped with senior gifts and a truly special, sponsored banquet at Lucette this year. To ensure the performance, they provided meals for the team after every home game made with local ingredients along with snacks for away games and several team meals for away games.
With the help of the primary organizer, Veronika Zazovsky, the boys soccer team had a successful event. Veronika has done so many things for the special occasion such as contacting vendors, processing applications, assigning and mapping spots, arranging sponsorships, creating layouts and diagrams, writing vendor communications, drafting materials, managing registration, balancing product categories, designing graphics and promoting on social media, and overseeing compliance and logistics. Although Coach Laura took other responsibilities such as online marketing and ran all of their paid advertisements. The boy soccer’s team played their part in this too. They helped vendors unload and load their products, guide them to their spots, assist with lunches, and hospitality, manage parking, greet guests, answer questions, provide breaks, run concessions, and offer general support throughout the day.
We asked Veronika what her most memorable holiday craft she received.
“The most special holiday craft item was a wooden chicken birdhouse from the 2024 show. I loved it the moment I saw it. I ran to my car to get cash to buy it, but when I returned, someone else had purchased it. I was so upset that I missed out on it.
Weeks later, while unwrapping Christmas gifts, I discovered that my family had secretly bought the birdhouse for me. It brought me so much joy and tears. It was incredibly meaningful.”
The legacy of the 2025 Craft show is clear, it delivered a professional, fully supported experience for those who had vendors and those who could join them.
