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Date: 12/3/2021
LUDLOW – Following its annual Holiday Craft fair on Nov. 19 and Nov. 20, First Church in Ludlow will be relaunching its Christmas Shoppe after a hiatus due to COVID-19.
Betty Jaciow, one of the co-chairs for First Church’s Holiday Fair, said nearly all the church’s events had to be put on hold because of COVID-19.
“The Christmas Shoppe we did I think for the first time in 2018 or 2019, but with the pandemic last year we just could not do it, everything was locked up at the church. We had an outside marketplace for the fair in October, but we had to think of our parishioners and the age of some of them, one of them is 99,” she said.
To protect the church’s parishioners, Jaciow said masks will be required when visiting the shop.
Once the shop kicks off, Jaciow said three separate shops will be open inside the church.
“We will have the bookstore open, and the fabric store I anticipate will be open – that is a hummingbird shop that focuses on fabrics, yarns and handcraft types of things. In the first classroom we will have Christmas décor and household things like aprons and knitted hats leftover from the fair. The biggest focus in that room will be Christmas items,” she said.
As soon as people enter the church, the Christmas Shoppe will be the first door on the right.
Other than the books, everything in First Church’s shops are handmade.
“These are all handmade items, these are not items you can go buy at the store, the ladies here have created all of these items. There is one gentleman that helps but he helps make things with his wife but there is another gentleman that has been very active at helping get things cleaned up around here,” she said.
In the past, Jaciow said the shop has been an extension of the fair.
“We are hoping that people feel comfortable coming in. For the fair it has always been a really good turnout and we found with the shop if people could not make it one of the two days to the fair, that gave them time to come in after the fair,” she said. “We are just hoping for some good foot traffic.”
Because of the COVID-19 hiatus, Jaciow said she did not know what to expect for a turnout at the shop.
“We have people that regularly come into the hummingbird shop and to the bookstore, but that has been a little bit slow lately too because of the pandemic, it was shut down. Now it is opening back up with the fair,” she said.
The shop’s first weekend also overlaps with the church’s bi-monthly food drive.
“On Dec. 4, we will also be having a food drive, we collect non-perishable food items, which we take to the Survival Center in Indian Orchard. We do that every even month of the year,” she said.
Along with the food drive, Jaciow said the church will also be collecting school supplies for the duration of the shop.
“During the fair we are doing something that we call ‘Four is More’ and we may extend that into the Christmas Shoppe. Each spring school bags are made for children in this country and around the world that need help with school supplies so bags are made up with specific items and donations will still be accepted at the shop,” she said.
The Christmas Shoppe at First Church, which is located at 859 Center St., is open Dec. 3, Dec. 4, Dec. 10 and Dec. 11 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.