From January to December, all year round, some Canadians seek to keep the Christmas spirit alive.
“I love Christmas through and through. It’s magical,” Denise D'Angicco of Blue Mountains, Ont., told The Epoch Times. “I think it’s a happy-go-lucky feeling that people—a lot of us—are missing these days for so many different reasons. … I find people are kinder, open their hearts a little bit more. ”
Twelve years ago, D’Angicco dedicated herself to Christmas year-round with her Georgian Christmas store. Even in the middle of summer, the sounds, smells, and sights of the season welcome customers and evoke joy.
The Georgian Christmas store in Blue Mountains, Ont., is one of the places in Canada people can experience the festive season year-round. Courtesy of Denise D'Angicco
“It’s Christmas when you walk in the door,” Dan Thomson, another year-round Christmas store owner, told The Epoch Times.
Thomson’s faith is important to him and he said he likes to celebrate the birth of Jesus throughout the year. He helps create the Christmas atmosphere with music and festivities in the Star and Stable Christmas Store in Prince Edward Island. The store is owned by his wife, Kerri, and he is the business manager.
“Our focus is about family values, caring for people, benevolence, serving in the community,” he said. He tries to create the experience of visiting family for the holiday.
It’s not just a business, “it’s a lifestyle,” he said.
Christmas year-round means hot chocolate year-round, too. Thomson has fun with it—his shop makes a special “Buddy’s breakfast” hot chocolate, a reference to the movie “Elf.” It’s infused with maple syrup, one of Buddy’s favourite foods.
Charlotte Davis of Banff, Alberta, is another year-round Christmas enthusiast. She is a visual merchandiser for The Spirit of Christmas store and helps create the Christmas experience throughout the year.
“We live, eat, breathe Christmas every day,” she told The Epoch Times.
“I get to take the challenge of picking all the ornaments and making them into a beautiful tree or scene or whatever it may be. It’s just the fun of creating that magic for others to enjoy.”
The store has helped make Christmas memories for families.
“We’ve had a wedding take place in the store this past year, in April. We’ve had a proposal. We’ve had a lot of multi-generational families coming through that have come to the store every year. Some people came 20 years ago and are now coming back again. So it’s all about that memory-making,” Davis said.
The store helps charities, true to the season’s giving spirit, she said.
Christmas Market Magic
Others who are immersed in the Christmas spirit all year long include those who plan Canada’s many Christmas markets. Even though the markets themselves aren’t open year-round, the planning is, and it helps keep the spirit alive for those involved.
Line Basbous, one of the organizers of the Montreal Christmas Village, said her whole year is dedicated to creating that excitement people feel when they see the Christmas markets opening up and the joy they experience walking through them.
“As Christmas organizers, of course, we love Christmas. We could have chosen another kind of event,” she told The Epoch Times. “We talk about Christmas all year long. And it’s always funny when in summertime, you go and you meet with the partners, and they’re like, ‘Oh, we’re talking about Christmas’ and it’s 40 degrees outside.”
On the last day of the market, 1,000 Christmas meals are given away for free. Having people come together in that atmosphere, with the lights and the music, over a meal provided in the spirit of giving, is a great way to celebrate the season, Basbous said.
Krista Poffenroth, manager of exhibits and business development at the Calgary International Christmas Market, is one of many Canadians whose mind is on Christmas year-round. Spruce Meadows Media
Krista Poffenroth, who helps organize Calgary’s Spruce Meadows International Christmas Market, said she also feels like she plays a part in creating that seasonal feeling.
“You’re feeling the sights, the sounds, the smells of Christmas that we’ve created here, and we often hear people say that it is really magical to visit,” she told The Epoch Times.
Though she thinks about Christmas year-round, Mackenzie Muldoon of North York’s Holiday Fare in the Square says the cheer and spirit really ramp up closer to the holidays.
“The vendors start booking their holiday markets early in the summer so it is essential that you start to think about things then,” she told The Epoch Times. “But when you’re actually hanging the balls garland and the lights and putting the signs up, that’s when it feels more real.”
Muldoon said she loves Christmas because of how everyone slows down and enjoys time to celebrate together.
“I love that people make it a priority to see loved ones, and that we take a little time off … sort of take a different pace,” she said. “The focus goes towards things like family and friends and celebration together.”
Chandra Philip
Author
Chandra Philip is a news reporter with the Canadian edition of The Epoch Times.
