The first thing you notice when you step into the gift shop at the St. Albert Botanic Park is the aroma. First the beautiful smells of home-baked cookies and apple cider hit your nose but soon afterwards you sense the Christmassy perfumes of fancy soaps and perhaps a whiff of cedar.
The reason for this festivity is the fourth annual Christmas in October sale at the botanic park, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day from Oct. 18 to 26 as the volunteers host their biggest fundraiser of the year.
“I think perhaps it’s an even bigger fundraiser for the botanic park than our rose sale, because it’s really just one week, and the rose sale goes for a longer period of time,” said Diane Goodall, who heads the Christmas in October committee.
The planning for the sale begins each year in February as Goodall and her team members attend the Alberta Gift Show in Edmonton. Their task is to find unusual items, which they believe will catch the eye of St. Albert shoppers.
“Last year we sold out, so we’ve brought in even more items this year and we’ve tried to have a range of prices so there’s something for everyone,” she said.
Indeed, a tiny wooden mouse, complete with a red slouch hat and a chubby tummy might set a youngster back $3.50 if he chose to purchase such an item for his grandmother. At the opposite side of the scale, a little pewter train could be purchased for less than $60. That same grandmother could put candies in it, or perhaps a teddy bear and let it chug-a-chug-chug under her Christmas tree.
Look around the shop and you’ll see all manner of ribbons and ruffles and shimmering beauty that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Purchasing an item from this sale goes towards supporting St. Albert’s biggest public park.
Last year St. Albert Botanic Park volunteers raised approximately $60,000 through various means including the Christmas in October gift sale, the Mother’s Day rose sale and the rent of the John Beedle Centre as well as the rose garden for events such as weddings.
The funds that are raised through these endeavours are matched with a variety of government grants and are used to improve the park.
“The St. Albert Botanic Park is a public park run by volunteers on land leased from the City of St. Albert,” said past president Margaret Plain.
The largest current project is to extend the sidewalks through the park so that people with mobility issues can also enjoy its beauty.
“Last year we extended those sidewalks to the Cottage Garden and that was almost all completed with volunteer labour,” Plain said, adding that last year volunteers contributed 13,000 hours of work at the park.
“The botanic park always needs funds, even though it’s run by volunteers. It needs money for plantings, for upkeep, for general expenses to run the park, for purchasing new roses and dahlias and for all the other ongoing expenses of a park,” said Goodall.
The St. Albert Botanic Park gift shop is located inside the park on Sturgeon Road, near Woodlands Road. For more information, phone the park at 780-458-7163.
