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 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.
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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] |
