Monadnock Ledger-Transcript
Published: 11/20/2023 11:52:08 AM
Peterborough’s traditional Holiday Stroll kicked off the holiday season Saturday, with seven faith based organizations taking part in this year’s event.
“I can’t even remember how long this has been going on. It feels like it’s always just been part of Peterborough,” said Jill Shaffer Hammond of the Peterborough Unitarian Universalist Church (PUUC).
The PUUC stroll included private craft vendors, antique and thrift items donated by members and the Cookie Walk, with assorted cookies baked by church members for $10 a pound. The church added a Kids Corner to the stroll this year, where children could paint and do crafts while parents picked out cookies and shopped.
“We usually have 50 to 60 varieties of cookies in the cookie stroll, and people show up early and they go fast,” Schaffer Hammond said. “This is a huge fundraiser for the church and it’s a lot of fun.”
At the Christian Science Reading Room, Debbie Flatley and her team of volunteers offered homemade cookies and cider as well as tours of the church hall, which recently received new chairs.
Across the street at the Union Congregational Church/United Church of Christ, volunteer Carele Mayer said it had been a busy day.
“We’ve sold a whole (lot) of house plants, I guess those are popular on a gloomy day,” Mayer said.
Mayer and the Women’s Fellowship created homemade gifts such as cat toys, lavender sachets and jams and jellies, along with baked goods and holiday ornaments.
“The Women’s Fellowship raises money for things that aren’t in the regular church budget, like new chairs. We support the mission program. We support Shelter for the Storm and a lot of other local charities,” Mayer said. “This is a really big day for us.”
In the Methodist Church a few doors down, Wendy Dunning said sales were good and “things have really been disappearing.”
“This sale and and spring yard sale are our biggest fundraisers. It is just so nice to see people out today. There is such a sense of community spirit. Everyone is so nice. Kindness is contagious,” Dunning said.
“The world is such a tough place right now, but if we look at our local communities, there are so many wonderful things happening,” volunteer Pat Woodward added.
All Saints’ Episcopal Church offered tours of the church, a noon service and a children’s “Kids’ Holiday Shop,” where young shoppers were invited to select items without adult intervention. The church’s “Saintly Dozen” volunteer group donned Santa hats and provided hot lunch and beverages to shoppers.
Peterborough’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is located outside of the village, provided music and refreshments in the lobby before the noon service, and down Route 101, Divine Mercy parish also took part in the stroll, with food and drinks, music, handmade gifts and a raffle of gift baskets.