By Carol Fisher Linn
Christmas will be here in a twinkle of Santa’s eye…..
Get a head start toward your Christmas gifting 9am on Saturday, November 4th at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Ellicottville now located at the entrance to the village across from Ellicottville Garage. You are all invited to spend a leisurely day wandering through the displays at this warm and comfortable Christ Child Market from which it derives its German name.
Speaking from experience, I can guarantee that you will find many beautiful, enchanting, one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted items for family members and friends on your list. You will discover items for your own home that you didn’t know you needed but discovered you can’t live without. I have a very large antique wooden baby cradle/bed that fits that description exactly which I found at the Market several years ago and have enjoyed ever since.
In the nine years that St. Paul’s has sponsored this event, local crafts persons have displayed a diverse display of wares for sale. I have personally purchased as gifts, quilted table runners and napkins, kitchen towels with crochet tops to hang on cupboard doors, hand-poured beeswax candles, and soaps. This year, you will find handmade items appealing to everyone, along with crocheted items, afghans, quilts, wall hangings, ornaments, country primitives, wood carvings,
goat milk soaps, hand sewn and felted wool items, quilted fabric purses, refinished antique boxes and plenty more. If you are feeling lucky, you will want to buy some chances for the basket raffles. Be smart and take cash or checks in case some of the vendors don’t take credit cards. In speaking with Chris Sinn who, together with her sister, Karen Schiefer (aka, the Ploetz twins) began this artisan sale, they always welcome items for their basket sale. If you have any items you would like to donate, please call the church any day from 9-noon and speak with Karen Stokes, the church secretary, at 716-699-2265.
A great place to check your list to be sure you’ve got all bases covered is at their famous Nutcracker Café. Here you can take a rest, gather your thoughts, and appease your hunger from all that shopping with their delicious homemade artisan soups, fresh home-made rolls and sweet rolls, and home-made seasonal baked goods. Toast yourself for your smart shopping decisions with a cup of their famous German Christmas Wassail and their Crème Brulé (which sells out fast!).
St. Paul’s first occupied a church building on Beaver Hollow Road and Route 219 from 1923. The congregation then moved to a building at the corner of Elizabeth and Mechanic Street (now a residence, complete with cupola) celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversary in 1948 at that location. The original 1923 church building fell into disrepair and accidentally burned to the ground in the early 60’s while privately owned. In 1964, St. Paul’s moved to its present location at 6360 Route 242 in Ellicottville. This year, they have been celebrating their 100th anniversary crowning the event with the erection of a large, covered, outdoor shelter and a special service in September with their bishop from the Upstate New York Synod of the ELCA, The Rev. Dr. Lee Mathers Miller present. St. Paul’s is committed to being involved in community affairs. As such, their Pastor (for 8 years) Dan Buringrud, is a member of Ellicottville Rotary. Their latest community outreach involves their annual Trick and Trunk in the church parking lot, which they will co-host with the Rotary for the first time this year.
St. Paul’s also has available the use of its Emmaus House next to the church which can accommodate 15 to 20 people. It has a kitchen; groups provide their own food. There is an indoor wood stove, and outdoor campfire circle with plenty of outdoor recreational greenspace to complement the house. For larger meetings and dining needs, groups are welcome to use church facilities next door. This older home is vintage charming and comfortable, providing large gathering rooms, 7 bedrooms, two baths, laundry room with washer and dryer, dining room and large porches for casual gathering. It is available to youth and adult retreat groups, leadership planning retreats, families, and family groups, and out of town guests. For lodging costs and more information, please contact the church at 716-699-2265.
See you at the ChristKindleMarket! Join me for some Wassail!