Rows and rows of vendor tables stretching as far as the eye can see. Thousands of handmade items and pieces.

If variety and selection are important, then bigger is better.

The annual Lititz Rotary Club Craft Show is billed as one of the biggest of its kind on the East Coast. It's a claim to fame that benefits both show attendees and the borough of Lititz alike.

"It's one of the largest craft shows anywhere," said Tom Oehme, president of the Lititz Rotary Club and the show's chairperson. "There's such a wide variety of items there. If someone is looking for a specific item, they should be able to find it there."

This year's Lititz Rotary Club Craft Show will be presented from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12. The downtown business district will be barricaded, and the streets will come alive with unique handcrafted wares, food and up to 50,000 visitors.

About 525 artists will staff nearly 700 individual spaces spread across a 10-block area on East Main Street, on Broad Street and into Lititz Springs Park. Admission to the event is free.

"I think for the most part people enjoy (the show) and they like that the money raised goes back to the community," said Oehme.

The array of pieces that will be made available by the crafters from Lancaster County and surrounding counties that day includes woodwork, metalwork, pottery, jewelry, children's clothing, knitted sweaters, quilts, photography, various artworks, kitchen items, aprons, hats, wreaths, brooms, candles and dolls.

The craft show is the only annual fundraiser currently being conducted by the Lititz Rotary Club. Oehme said that the proceeds from the craft show will be presented by the club to local service agencies like local volunteer fire and ambulance crews.

"The purpose of the craft show is to raise money for the community," said Oehme. "After expenses, the profits are donated to the community. Plus, some of our food vendors are nonprofits."

Dating back to 1979, the Lititz Rotary Club Craft Show has enjoyed a long history of serving the community.

"A local attorney who was a member of the Rotary Club came up with the idea of doing a craft show," said Oehme. "He passed away not long after, and we decided to keep it going. It started on Main Street, then expanded to Broad Street, and right now it's big enough to fill up half the park. It'll continue to grow, because we don't seem to have any problems getting crafters to come."

An offshoot of Rotary International, the Lititz chapter was founded in 1925 with 35 original members.

For additional information about the Lititz Rotary Club Craft Show, go to https://lititzrotary.com/page/lititz-craft-show.