We were on the way to yet another meeting when — out of nowhere — Mr. Fix-It said: “Wouldn’t it be great to go into Christmas with nothing to do but decorate, bake cookies and go to parties?”
It’s been years since I had that privilege. My daughter was a little girl and the temperatures had plummeted to below zero for several days the week before Christmas. We stayed indoors, played Christmas music, baked cookies, made candy, and watched the pile of gifts under the tree grow larger. We talked about the Christmas story — the real reason we celebrate Christmas — and prepared for the Christmas Eve services for which I would be singing in our choir.
It was a joyous time. Stephanie was only five years old bursting with the excitement of the season. We had fun. We celebrated the traditional anniversary of Christ’s birth and prepared for a new year filled with hope.
At that time of my life, I was a manufacturers’ representative in the gift, toy, and souvenir industry. Having grown up in retail and worked off and on in our family business until Stephanie was three, the transition I had made into the wholesale side of the industry was an adventure.
Especially at Christmas.
It was always fun for me while Daddy had City Pharmacy. In sixth grade, I had begun wrapping gifts for customers (talk about child labor). Mother had to be at the store to help out, so it only stood to reason that I would be there, too.
A few years later, “Window Dresser” was added to my bag of experiences. Mother had taken me to the gift market where I helped her select a pair of Victorian animatronic figures decked in red velvet trimmed in rabbit, rhinestone buttons, and the sweetest expressions you’ve ever seen. He stood on a wooden ladder decorating the tree we had set in a cloud of angel hair. She stood at the base of the tree in a swirl of velvet, upswept Gibson Girl hair, and delicate earrings. They moved heads and hands in what was state of the art movement for 1968.
City Pharmacy was the only store in town with a window display like that and folks came from all over town just to watch our little boy and girl decorate their tree. They became part of our City Pharmacy family, a tradition we embraced, so we worked hard to take care of them so they’d continue to “decorate” the tree for years to come. They were still decorating when Daddy sold the store in 1989.
This time of year, longtime residents still reminisce about City Pharmacy’s Victorian Tree Trimmers. We didn’t realize what a part of the downtown Christmas tradition had our little people become.
Fast forward 25 years to this past weekend. The Holiday Market opened in downtown Winder in the Robinson Building and Larry Jones’ Granite Candler Street building. After Mr. Larry closed his doors at the end of October, things were looking a little bleak for downtown Winder’s Christmas season.
As the decorators and retailers began building their vignettes, pricing their goods, and watching the Market pull together, the anticipation grew. When we opened last Friday night during the Noels, Nibbles & Nogs event, folks who haven’t shopped in a downtown Winder store at night in 20 years showed up to help us celebrate.
We’ve all lamented the deterioration we see among our buildings in downtown Winder and we recognize that something needs to be done. Barrow Preservation Society is still a new organization — just now two years old — but we’re working to find a way to help fund some of the preservation projects our friends and neighbors would like to undertake, but haven’t been able to fund.
A Revolving Fund will help us to build on our traditions — Christmas and otherwise —so we can help property owners keep their buildings in good repair. People respond to the familiar — just like City Pharmacy’s little Victorian Tree Trimmers. They come into town to see the places of their childhood. The memory of shopping with our downtown retailers is strong. We couldn’t imagine shopping anyplace but with our neighbors.
Come share the excitement of the Holiday Market with us! We’re open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 1—8 pm on the corner of Athens and Jackson Streets catty cornered to City Hall, across Jackson from the Corner Bookstore. A portion of all sales will help us build the Preservation Society’s Revolving Fund so we can put money into Barrow County.
Mr. Fix-It has resigned himself that we won’t have a leisurely Christmas season, but we’ll have lots of excitement at the Market. He’s helping all of us build a new tradition in Barrow County with the Holiday Market. Come visit us — you’ll love it!
Helen Person is a Winder resident and columnist for the Barrow Journal. You can reach her at helenperson@windstream.net.
