Christmas comes early 'in the forest'
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on October 27, 2014 1:46 PM
Christmas in the Forest is a one-stop place where you can enjoy a warm meal, pick up a few baked goodies to take home and do your Christmas shopping.
The annual event will be Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Francis Episcopal Church at 503 Forest Hill Drive.
The men of the church have been already been busy preparing their famous vegetable soup. Visitors can stop by the Christmas in the Forest Cafe and enjoy a bowl of hot soup and sweets.
You can also buy some fresh or frozen to take home. A third option is to preorder the soup and pick it up frozen.
In addition to the soup, you'll also find a variety of sweets for sale, including cookies, brownies, a variety of breads and pies such as apple, chocolate, chess and sweet potato. Cookies are sold by the doze. Pies will be sold whole. You can get whole pound cakes or slices.
Vendors will be selling all kinds of homemade jellies and also pecans.
The church is known for its sausage rolls. You buy one frozen, take it home, slice it and bake it. Instructions are included. They are $6 each and can be preordered or picked up the days of the event.
At the annual event, there will be a variety of handcrafted items for sale, including pottery, wreaths, jewelry, scarves, baskets and carved wooden bowls and pens. There will also be cross stitch items, felted items, painted glass, outdoor art, soaps, painted wood art and photography.
One of the unique items is a Bread for Life Ugandan beaded jewelry, made by Ugandan women to help support their families.
Randy Wright, a potter, will be selling his pieces as well as giving pottery demonstrations. Woodturner Dale Overman will also be giving woodturning demonstrations.
New this year will be a chapel display by St. Francis member David Powell to commemorate the church's 50th anniversary.
"It's a timeline display of the church's history," Powell said. "It's basically visually representing what the church has gone through in the decades since 1964."
The timeline is broken into decades and there is a 20 by 30-inch poster for each that contain a lot of old photos that the church had on file and ones that were obtained from past and present members, Powell said.
In addition to the decade posters, there are also posters that give a brief history of Christmas in the Forest, which started in 1978, a brief history of the Blessing of the Animals that the church does each year, a brief history of the church's garden and columbarium and a brief biography of St. Francis himself.
The posters will be hanging on the walls of the chapel.
"I've gone in and handpainted the tree of life and leaves in the background of each decade poster," Powell said. "It signifies the growing into the future."
Music will be playing in the chapel to represent the Episcopal church from its earliest years up to current, more modern pieces, Powell said.
"And the church will be decorated in festive greenery," he said. "It's a feast for the senses."
The theme of the 2014 Christmas in the Forest is "Remembering, Celebrating and Transforming."
Proceeds will go to the Community Soup Kitchen, farm workers, Humane Society and women's shelter.
There is no charge to get into the event.
For more information, call the church at 919-735-9845.