Holiday Shopping in the Tobacco Valley
The Saturday after Thanksgiving was a superb Shop Small day in the Tobacco Valley. Stores like Sunflower Moose and Montana Market had wonderful sales, and home-based businesses such as Simply Josephine and Sean Tribble Pottery set up tables in town to display their wares. Cafe Jax and Four Corners Restaurant had yummy specials to fortify shoppers who needed a break mid day.
On December 3, there will be seventeen holiday bazaars in the valley from Trego to north of Eureka! These offer just about anything handmade that you can imagine. The Historical Village will have quilts and embroidered items. The Creative Arts Center's Holly Faire will have Karin Lamb's pottery, handmade jewelry, live music and photos with Santa. A complete listing of all the bazaars is available here on visitNWmontana.com along with a map so you won't waste time being lost.
Both Shop Small and the local bazaars are a terrific way to find very thoughtful gifts for those on your list as well as support businesses and artisans in the Tobacco Valley.
And when even the strongest shopper gets weary of making decisions and checking off names on the list, there are other events that will surely make the season special. Community Christmas caroling will take place on November 30. Singers of any age and ability are encouraged to meet up at Glacier Bank at 4:00 pm. On December 2 through 4, "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" will be presented in the Lincoln County High School auditorium and will certainly show community theater and local music at its best! Many in town will gather on December 2 at 6:30 pm for the Parade of Lights in Riverside Park, with tree lighting, a visit by Santa, music and hot chocolate. Then, on December 24, local playwright and elementary school librarian Morgen Reynolds will debut her "A Montana Christmas Carol" at the Creative Arts Center, a fun-filled play that is sure to please even the most Scrooge-like hearts.
What better place to spend the holidays! Not only are we surrounded by the beautiful mountains and forests of northwest Montana, but the valley offers everything needed to make this time of year the best.
About the Author: Rita Collins. I am a believer in the power of community and for now I call the Tobacco Valley home. I have lived in nine states and three counties and this community here amazes me - how people reach out to neighbors and even travelers. I've never lived in a place that demonstrates people caring for each other so well. And I've never lived in a place that has such a high percentage of talented musicians and artists. I work with the the Sunburst Community Service Foundation, a nonprofit that began in Eureka twenty years ago and now serves numerous communities in western Montana. And I just started a new business, St. Rita's Amazing Traveling Bookstore and Textual Apothecary. I never could have imagined life being this exciting in my sixth decade.
