Mount Pulaski downtown businesses and organizations reap the benefits of Christmas on Vinegar Hill

 

[November 19, 2018] 

Saturday marked the 30th year of the annual Christmas on Vinegar Hill in Mount Pulaski. The long-standing craft and artisan shopping opportunity beings into the small community thousands of visitors each year. Each visitor is there with only a few goals in mind, to find the perfect new Christmas decorations, buy the perfect handmade Christmas gift, and enjoy a day in a sweet, friendly community.

Around the town there were locations for sellers set up at the Mount Pulaski Grade School, the high school, the American Legion Hall, and a few locations around the historic Mount Pulaski Courthouse Square.

Also around the square, the businesses that help to keep that community alive were reaping the benefits of the one day a year when traffic jams are perfectly possible, and actually expected, in the heart of the town. Also benefiting in the downtown area were other organizations such as the Mount Pulaski Courthouse and the Mount Pulaski Township Historical Society.
 

The old VFW building on the south side of the square is now the home of the Hilltop Club. That club consists of local folk who are working to help improve the community through service. The group is a spinoff of the former Mount Pulaski Jaycees that dissolved a few years ago. The club has a men’s group as well as a woman’s group continuing on with the work of the Jaycees, and also adding some new ventures of their own.

On Saturday the Hill Topper Club was filled with home based businesses, from honey to home décor and many, many Christmas items, everyone was enjoying the day and appreciating the great turn out of visitors around the square.

The Hilltop Club was also the “run-over” location for the sale going on next door at the historical society. At the old VFW ladies with the historical society were selling artificial Christmas trees and lights, and other gadgets to be used for interior and exterior tree lighting. They explained that the historical society had run out of room and the large trees needed to be relocated to the Hilltop Club.

Moving on to the Mount Pulaski Township Historical Society, it was easy to see why the group needed the overflow in the old VFW. The two-building historical society and museum was overflowing with items, all carrying very affordable price tags. There was also a huge bake sale going on at the museum. The dollars raised by the sale will go to support the historical society and museum.

Vinegar Hill is so popular that even Santa Claus can’t stay away. This year the children’s favorite spot was more than likely the Mount Pulaski Courthouse Foundation Building located next door to the Farmer’s Bank on the square. Santa was visiting as a favor to the members of the Lincoln Land CEO program. Inside the building CEO students were greeting guests as they came in and urging everyone to have their picture taken on Santa’s lap.
 

The group was selling photos with Santa for three dollars each and the photo came with a free homemade sweet treat courtesy of the bake sale the group was also holding. For those who were too shy for a picture, they could still buy a bake sale item for a dollar a serving.

On down the block a little way was Salt Creek Attic. The locally owned business is made up of tons and tons of hand-made items from various crafters in the area. Each piece is top quality and shoppers know it. Inside the store people were shoulder-to-shoulder, elbow-to-elbow moving through the store and grabbing up some spectacular items for themselves and also for gift giving. The gals at Salt Creek were so busy, no one had time to talk, but it was easy to see that the little store was enjoying a fabulous day of sales.

Across the street at the Mount Pulaski Courthouse volunteers were on hand anxious to give tours of the courthouse and talk about its rich history.
 

Guests at the courthouse could also enjoy coffee or hot cider and choose one, two, or three cookies from a wide variety set out. For the courthouse, the importance of the day is all about the numbers. One volunteer was keeping an eye on folks coming in the door and urging them to stop and sign the guest register before going any further.

The reason for this is because the courthouse is a state historic site. As such, when there is funding available for historic sites, the number of annual visitors to a location is very important. Having the opportunity to entertain several dozen guests in one day gives that guest register a big boost.
 

Jules Flower Shop was the sole participant of Vinegar Hill on her block, but guests still found their way to the quaint and cozy flower show on the west side of the square. Owner Jules Mason was happy with the number of people who had passed through her store by noon on Saturday.

The afternoon would be busy as well no doubt, but at noon-time Jules caught a little breather and was able to visit a few minutes about store.

While it is a flower shop there are many, many other items on hand and some of those items are hand-made or as is the case with one lovely picture hanging on the wall, hand painted by local crafters or artists.
 

In the downtown area, things may have slowed down a little bit at noon, but it was only because there were plenty of food opportunities that are a part of Christmas on Vinegar Hill. Local eateries were open and also enjoyed increased traffic on Saturday. In addition, two churches were offering breakfast and a third was offering lunch. For some shoppers, the day wouldn’t be complete without the chance to enjoy good ‘down home’ cooking as provided by those churches.

All in all, the folks of Mount Pulaski are marking this year as another success for sales at Christmas on Vinegar Hill.

But, for those of you who didn’t have time to go on Saturday, or have an aversion to crowds, these lovely downtown businesses still have tons of merchandise for sale for the holiday season.

Be sure to put Mount Pulaski on your shopping destination list this year. You are sure to find something that will call out your name and beg to be taken home by you.

[Nila Smith]