January 5, 2007

Willow Glen and Cambrian area holiday happenings

By Carol Rosen
Editor

Sixth graders take orders for lunch from a table full of shoppers. St Christopher sixth graders Caitlin Burns and Anne Noack take food orders from Presentation sophomore Lauren Pinheiro, all from Willow Glen. Photos by Carol Rosen

The days of early and mid December typically signal a number of boutiques and sales held to delight shoppers and provide them with a myriad of gifts of all kinds, especially those that are unique and sometimes homemade. This year was no exception.

Two of those boutiques were held on the same weekend. One was at St. Christopher’s Church in Willow Glen, which is 15 years old, and the other at Fammatre Elementary School in Cambrian Park, which is only 3 years. Both are unique in their own ways and both offered a number of items that might be found elsewhere.

St. Christopher’s annual event is typically held in November, but this year was pushed back to the first weekend in December. The two-day sale is run by the church’s Ladies Guide, which gives the proceeds to a variety of sources including charities, and for needs in the church, school and community.

Melissa Kong, her 4-year old son Ian and her mother-in-law Maureen Kong, work on crafts at the children’s craft table.

The event was crowded with both vendors and patrons and offered everything from candles to candy and objects of art to toys. Santa Claus was available for pictures and lists and there were crafts for the kiddies. The sixth graders at the school helped to cook lunch and then took orders and delivered them to the hungry shoppers. The money they raised was going toward their science camp.

The Fammatre boutique also offered varied types of vendors with lots of handmade items. There were Christmas decorations, make up, candles, toys and all kinds of items in between. The one-day boutique’s goal is to raise money to support school activities from assemblies to field trips and recently new playground equipment. It is run by the Home and School Club and for the third year was chaired by Denise Egan.

Santa Claus was back for the third year in a row, delighting the children with his Ho-Ho-Hos. Egan was pleased with the crowd, which she noted had been steady throughout the six-hour day.