The Guam Naval Officers Spouse Connection’s Christmas Street Craft Fair is set for from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Top O’ the Mar on Nimitz Hill.

The event is a fund-raiser for Andersen Air Force Base’s Annual Operation Christmas Drop. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children.

Operation Christmas Drop began in December 1952 when a WB-50 aircraft assigned to Andersen’s 54th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron was flying over Kapingamarangi island southwest of Guam, the GNOSC told the Pacific Navigator. When the islanders waved at the plane, the crew quickly grabbed a few items, placed them in a container, attached a parachute and air-dropped it to the people below.

The practice has now become a holiday tradition, according to the report. Items such as dental supplies, clothing, building materials, fishing gear and toys are dropped every year.

Over the past 52 years, up to 52 remote islands throughout Micronesia have received the air drops, the report stated. The GNOSC has staged the fair for six years.

A year ago, the fair attracted almost 750 people and the spouse connection raised more than $4,000.

According to the report, at this year’s event, more than 50 vendors will offer a variety of merchandise, from afghans, cookbooks and quilts to artwork, jewelry, floral arrangements, decorations and jelly.

Contact Debby Hugill at 564-1330 or Hugill@eccomm.com for information about volunteering or becoming a vendor.

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