Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 02/98) - The Yellowknife Guild of Arts and Crafts' annual Christmas sale is a seasonal shopping tune-up not for the faint of heart.

Every year, serious arts and crafts shoppers line up early Saturday morning for a chance at the best selection.

"When I got in, I just started grabbing stuff," said Shelley Portello. "I bought way more stuff than I planned."

Portello confessed she got a little carried away by a five-minute head start she won at a raffle the night before.

This is the second year the guild has raffled off five-minute leads on the rest of the crowd. The lineup was more than 60 people long this year, a little down from last year.

Some shoppers reportedly use the preview to draw up a list and map out the locations of the items they want.

For the past two years, the guild has held a raffle at the preview. The prize? A 9:55 a.m. entry to the 10 a.m. sale. The two-minute head start was a big advantage Saturday morning. The three winners left behind them about more than 60 people who had lined up early for the best selection.

At least one innocent bystander was mistaken for a sneaky Christmas shopper.

"I just wanted to get in to make sure everything was set up for the (Stanton Regional Hospital) telethon," said a surprised Paul Gamble. "They said 'Hey, you can't come in here yet.'"

Guild president Bev Matthews said the sale is an event Yellowknifers have come to expect.

"People are used to us having the sale each year," said Matthews. "I remember a few years ago, I got a call from a woman who was quite angry because we weren't having a preview."

Asked why the guild, which was founded in 1946, doesn't take advantage of the demand and hold a sale every month, Matthews explained the organization is run by volunteers. Not enough crafts are produced to have a sale more than a few times each year.

"Besides, if we had it every month it wouldn't be as much fun," said Matthews.

And fun is one of the reasons Linda France said she was shopping at St. Pat's Saturday. France, a regular at the sale, said she already has more crafts at home than she can use, but wanted to get some Christmas shopping in -- "and a little something for myself."

"My husband said Yellowknifers are crazy about craft sales and garage sales," said Darlene Jonsson, who bought three bowls for Christmas gifts.

Jonsson said she did not attend the preview. "I wasn't that serious, but I did get here at 10."