The Southern Lancaster County Historical Society (SLCHS) will sell Christmas decorations and custom-made wreaths on Saturday, Dec. 3, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 4, from noon to 3 p.m. The sale serves as the organization's largest yearly fundraiser and helps to cover its operating expenses, and it will be held in the small brick warehouse across from the birthplace of Robert Fulton, 1932 Robert Fulton Highway, Quarryville.

The tradition of making and selling the wreaths began over 20 years ago. Each year, members of the historical society and a group of volunteers meet to cut fresh greens from pine trees and other bushes and drop them off at the historical society's archive building. "We rely on people to allow us to prune their plants for the material," said Stan White, president of SLCHS. "It can be a bit of a dance figuring out where to send our volunteers." The group will often gather the material from campgrounds, private nurseries and yards that people have offered to them.

The following Monday, the volunteers will arrive at 9 a.m. and spend the day assembling wreaths and other decorations. Each item is unique and handcrafted by the volunteers over coffee and lunch. "We always have a blast down there making stuff," Stan said.

As a secondary fundraiser, SLCHS will also sell its yearly calendar. Each year's calendar features a different artist's work on the cover, along with multiple artists' interpretations of the historic Southern End. This year, the committee selected artwork by Linda White, wife of Stan White, to feature on the calendar's cover.

The piece on the cover of the calendar is Linda's drawing of the Ankrum house, located on Furnace Road in Drumore Township. The house itself is now dilapidated, but the drawing depicts the home in its former glory. Linda was able to acquire old photographs from the descendants of the Ankrum family, which she used as a reference for her drawing. "The house is close to my own, and I always think to myself that if I were younger and had the money, I would fix it up," Linda said. "It's a lot of fun to go through the calendar and see depictions of places that are no longer there or look very different today."

The calendar may be purchased by visiting the SLCHS building at the birthplace of Robert Fulton in Quarryville, which is open from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays and every second and fourth Saturday of the month,. The calendar may also be purchased at Kreider's Market, 2396 Kirkwood Pike, Kirkwood, and Maplehofe Dairy, 799 Robert Fulton Highway, Quarryville. SLCHS asks that those planning on visiting its location to purchase a calendar notify it ahead of time by calling 717-392-4633.