Volunteer Of The Month: Beth Capps Coordinates Holiday Magic At Broadneck Craft Bazaar

Beth Capps has volunteered in her kids’ school activities since they were in elementary school, and she is a self-proclaimed “big craft show fan,” so it was a natural fit for her to assume the role of craft bazaar chair on the volunteer-run Bruins Athletic Boosters Club at Broadneck High School in 2018.

“I was active in the boosters – my son played baseball, he was class of 2020, and my daughter was a soccer player, she was class of 2024,” Capps shared. “My husband coached (travel) baseball for 13 years, so our family just likes to be involved in volunteering with the schools, school stuff, and community activities.”

With the support of many fellow volunteers, Capps has managed the popular annual bazaar since then, even as her own children graduated and went on to college.

The Broadneck Holiday Craft Bazaar typically draws around 2,000 shoppers, Capps explained, who peruse the handmade-only goods of roughly 150 mostly local vendors in search of one-of-a-kind gifts, décor and more. An entrance fee of $2 directly supports Broadneck athletics. The 40th annual bazaar took place this year on December 7.

Capps, an Arnold resident, juggles most of the planning and logistics, from vendor registration and communication, to creating master maps of where they will all set up throughout the school, to coordinating spaces for clubs and concessions, to making sure things flow smoothly on the big day.

Though it is something she devotes time to all year long, Capps is quick to share credit for the bazaar’s success.

“We also use our athletes to move the vendors in and out of the building,” she said, noting the students deliver lunches to the vendors as well. “There’s no way to pull off a show of this size and get the vendors moved in in the short timeframe that you have for these shows without someone to help because it’s so much stuff … so the kids are just absolutely invaluable and the coaches keep them moving.”

“The kids are just so patient and so helpful,” she emphasized, adding, “We get a lot of compliments on the kids.”

For the last three years, Capps’ friend Barb Chapman has rolled up her sleeves to help with marketing, community outreach, signage and more. Capps described the bazaar as “all hands on deck” for the boosters committee chairs, and in addition to their help, many dedicated volunteers assist with concessions, parking and other logistics.

With her daughter studying at the University of Connecticut and her son being a recent graduate of the University of Maryland, Capps hopes to find a volunteer to take over her responsibilities with the craft bazaar soon.

“I certainly would be more than willing to have somebody shadow or help out – I’m not going to disappear,” she said. “But I probably do need to pass it on to someone who still has (children) in the school system.”

Capps works for the United States Census Bureau, and in her free time has set out to visit all of Maryland’s state parks.

“I’m trying to turn hiking into a hobby, and I’m halfway through the list of state parks right now,” she said. “There are over 50 state parks in Maryland and it’s fantastic. Lots of variety, too, so there’s some mountain hiking and then there are some that are more for kayaking and camping.”

Once she has completed her tour of Maryland, Capps said her next venture will be visiting national parks. Her family also enjoys attending hockey games together. And, of course, when she reaches retirement, Capps expects she’ll find new opportunities to volunteer.