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Our day was ' already starting out ‘_. to be more fun) f, 1' than sludging 1' through the shop- Pg)" ping malls and that w; was the whole pur- pose. You see, I adore Christmas and searching out those special gifts for the people I love but I face . a conundrum â€" I love shop- “ ping, I hate shopping malls. The thought of sloshing my winter-pale. exhausted body through the mall anytime East» Dec. 1 drains the icy of the season «hit of me. Â¥ -, h”)?! -' 03;.) xii-U” DECEMBER 2002 when the phone rang a lew minutes atter ‘HO I knew something was up “I'm running a little late," she announced, "but I'm nearly there. There was a big turkey on the road." My sister was due to arrive at my house by 9:30 am. to start our day of Christmas shopping in Whitchurchâ€"Stouffville. Naturally I chuckled I'm a transplanted Torontonian and my sister is a big city girl too. so my next question was, “Are you sure it was a turkey?" “Yeah." she said. “It had that big flabby” neck I had to wait a ./ couple of minutes' while the farmer came down his road and moved it." There’s no place like home to shop When the traditional north of Highway 7 blizzard hit us Nov 5 my thoughts imme- diately turned to Christmas preparations. I decided there had to be a way to avoid my annual “mall-itis" and set out to prove that Whitchurch/Stouffville had what I needed. l was going to enjoy a day with my sister travelling through this lovely community, loading up the car with goodies at each stop. A little preparation was required so I drew up a list of names. Next to each name I placed categories appropriate to the per- son -- sports. books, gardening. electron- Dianne 0 905-640-3521 Karen 0 905-640-1657 New To Your Community? Be sure to call Our hostess will bring gifts and greetings, along with helpful community information }LCOME‘ IAGON Sm I930 By Nancy Hopkins StodMlk' Ihis Month Cfln’atm gfi Calm, Just the Right Touch STOUFFVILLE THERAPEUTIC CENTRE For Massage. Shiatsu £9“ Reflexology ics, and so on. I decided we would start at the west side of town and work our way through to the other end. Despite my sister's delay we were too early for Stoulfville's Baker Hill so our first stop was Frontier Saddlery on Highway 48. “You have to buy this for Parker," announced my sister. referring to my two- yearâ€"old niece. as she squeezed a pur- pIE. wobbly-legged stuffed horse and it neighed thrge Limes IICI‘IIEU "IISQ H‘IU‘V3- . , ~ As we left we entered our names“ a draw for a gift certificate and Diane, the store clerk, handed us each a cute ginger- bread Christmas tree ornament. Then it was along Stouffville Road to Radio Shack. where I planned to knock a few names off the list. How hard could it be buying CD Walkmans for the niece and nephew? Then again. how do you get two sisters to make a relatively easy decision quickly? We changed our minds twice and even after purchasing were still saying, “Well, if Haley doesn‘t want this she can change it for a home CD player." I couldn't7 wait to see the new Shopper's Drug Mart, where sis picked out one ol her gifts and the stockings got well on their way to being filled. We were gainâ€" ing momentum with each bag-lull but this adrenaline high was draining our energy and it was time to refuel. With so many eatâ€" ing establishments to choose from, we were quickly able to find a spot for lunch and soon regained the strength to contin- l was surprised at the how many gift ideas I found at Canadian Tire. I bought numerous boxes of paper whites and amaryllis flowering bulbs These all- i-n- \one boxes of bulbs earth and a pot are \\a great way to brighten up someone's \. winter. Time was running out as my sister had to return to her children and her life in the city. But was there time for that one last stop? “It's on the way back to your car." | pleaded. “Okay, if it's not too long." she said Our final destination was Willow Springs Winery on Bethesda Road. While l l was excited about my first visit to the Book Connection. While it isn't a large storeit has plenty of variety. I was thrilled with the hard cover chil- dren's books I purchased and hubby got the usual Christmas sports books > Then it was on to downtown IStouffville. Even though there are {few people I would buy second- hand Christmas items for. we still had to make the regular stop at the Care and Share, and it didn't disap- point! Next was Candlelight and lMemories. where a couple more inames were scratched off the list. 'WHITCHURCHâ€"STOUFEVILLE THIS MONTH” â€" 23 wine tasting we picked up a number of goodies. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of merchandise for sale. The win- ery even does gift baskets â€" a wonderful idea for those folks who have everything! It was a beautiful and tasty end to an action- packed day of shopping. While I didn't complete all my purchas- es. I do possess a large Sears catalogue. One phone call and a pick-up at Ann‘s Fabrics and I am done! Although I didn't have time to visit all the merchants in Whitchurch-Stouffville. they'll be seeing me come through their door one day soon. Meanwhile, here are some wonderful things I discovered about shopping in our community: I. You can find a sales clerk. 2. If they don't have what you need, they will try their best to get it for you. (More than one merchant made this offer) 3. The stores are lovely. with new stock coming in all the time. 4. Parking is never a problem 5‘ The countryside is beautiful 0 The stores aren't so large as to be over- whelming 7 It feels great to support the local busi- nesses and I enjoyed visiting some for the first time. And now the dining room is packed with the fruits of my labour. On a wintery weekend in the near future I will put up the Christmas tree. sip a glass of my home- made Bailey's Irish Cream. sit cross-legged on the floor surrounded by my purchases and declare. “That's a wrap!"