Starting in 2022, Garden Spot Village (GSV) added a Christmas Market to its annual events. This year, the public is invited to visit GSV on Saturday, Dec. 2, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. More than 30 artisans will be gathered at the village, 433 S. Kinzer Ave., New Holland. In addition to the maker's market, other activities will include a silent auction of themed gift baskets and gift certificates, a bake sale, and a chance to visit the train room from 1:30 to 4 p.m. The Linden gift shop, Artisans Corner, and Share & Care Thrift Store will all be open, as will Refresh, Harvest Table, and the Terrace Dining Room.

Special holiday additions to the day will include Mrs. Claus reading "The Polar Express," which is also the event theme. The beloved story will be read hourly beginning at 10:30 a.m. Gingerbread cookie decorating to be done at GSV or at home will be available for a small fee, and GSV chefs have endeavored to create a special lunch item to be sold at the Village Square from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Barbara Martin, associate director of mission advancement at GSV, called the creation "a Thanksgiving meal in a sandwich," noting that the flavors of turkey, cranberry, and stuffing will all be included. Pulled pork sandwiches and hot dogs will also be offered for purchase, and a hot cocoa bar will give visitors a chance to customize cocoa with a choice of toppings.

Among the GSV artisans who have been preparing items to sell at the market are stained glass maker Bonnie Lord, watercolorist Bruce Poulterer, and woodworker Larry Knepper.

Lord has been called a GSV "treasure." "She is in her 90s and still making stained glass," noted Martin.

For the Christmas Market, Lord works all year long to create up to 25 items, including angels, snowflakes, red candles with green trim, tiny birds, and miniature and full-size Nativity sets. She also makes creatures she calls "plant pets" to stick in planters. She often incorporates driftwood into her pieces and transforms pieces that are normally only two-dimensional into 3D creations.

Poulterer has been painting for 45 years. Although artistic talent runs in his family, Poulterer attended night school to fine-tune his skills. He is currently working on a painting en plein air at the Kuerner Farm, adjacent to the Brandywine River Museum of Art in Chadds Ford. He specializes in landscapes and buildings. A Christmas-themed painting of a stone wall outside a house on Goshen Road in Delaware County is one of his best sellers. Poulterer was recently among the 41 out of more than 100 artists whose work was chosen to be part of the "Ageless Art and Timeless Treasures" exhibition and gala coordinated by Leading Age PA. Artworks that were recognized will tour the state before decorating the Leading Age PA offices.

Knepper said that about 50 items made by wood shop members will be available in the Village Square and the Gardens West basement during the event. Items range from tissue box covers, plant stands, and cutting boards to marble roller games, tiny creatures that walk down a plank, and large versions of a game similar to Connect Four. Knepper has been a woodworker since he was a teenager and owned his own carpentry business for many years.

More information about GSV is available at http://www.gardenspotvillage.org.