Magic happened at Historical Society Holiday Village and Market


Saturday, December 4th, Santa welcomed boys and girls of all ages in a 19th century parlor at The Historical Society lavishly decorated with 20 holiday trees created by the talented students of Stewart and Stratford schools.  Children in velvet and silk, with tartan holiday ties and bows, whispered their wished-for gifts to Old St. Nick, had their picture taken by accompanying parents, grandparents and then enjoyed hot cocoa, candy canes, served by volunteers from The National Charity League.

  • two women at table with merchandise

    The A.T. Stewart Pop Up Shop

  • man with delivered boxes

    Stewart School tree delivery

  • three men with model trains

    The Train Men!

  • three women at table

    The National Charity League offered hot cocoa and candy canes

  • woman at table with artwork

    Pat Schweitzer, decorative painter

  • two women at table of goods

    Ellie's Bake Shoppe

  • two people holding tree

    Stratford School tree pickup

  • santa with little girl

    Charlotte and Santa

An antique train village, the beloved toys from another century, ran merrily around the tracks and through the miniature buildings – all on loan from Suzanne Coyle Weis – and engineered by aficionados from The West Island Model Railroad Club, who answered a steady stream of questions from awestruck children and their parents.

The A.T. Stewart Exchange, merry and bright in the ground floor of the Historical Society, sold one-of-a-kind antiques, collectibles gifts and holiday decor.

Society President Bill Garry remarked, “It was a beautiful day, so we expected a crowd but so many families wanted to see Santa and the Antique Train Village at the museum, we ran out of hot cocoa in the first hour and had to replenish the supply!”

The Holiday Market, right next door at the Senior Center, opened on Friday night, December 3rd with a Benefit Preview Cocktail Party generously underwritten by MaryJane and Tom Poole and catered by Prime.  Attendees had 1st dibs at the curated group of 17 local and small businesses and artisans – offering the perfect gifts for everyone – and no worries about packages being lost at the post office, or undelivered from Amazon.

Open to the public on Saturday, the Holiday Market was filled from beginning to end with shoppers who browsed and bought fine and faux jewelry, fashions, sumptuous sweets, house and garden accessories, baby and children’s gifts from Baubles, Bangles & Bags, Pat Beary Fine Art Photography, Bonnie Jennifer Jewelry, Tori Brown Fashions, Paddy Bunks Children’s Clothing & Accessories, The Cathedral Choir Development Fund, Ellie’s Bake Shoppe, Francine’s Outrageous Kitchen, JCB Artisanal Creations,

P and C Diamonds, Christine Rossini Decorative Accessories, Pat Schweitzer Decorative Painter, Signature Gifts, Linda Silver Designs, an A.T. Stewart Exchange pop-up shop, and Walt Winchurch Fine art.

A Victorian Christmas Café sold homemade gingerbread and decadent hot chocolate to refresh shoppers.

Perhaps the most exciting element of the Holiday Market was The Festival of Trees, all charmingly and lavishly decorated by the most creative individuals, organizations and businesses.  Home Depot in Westbury and Hempstead gave a discount to the Historical Society to purchase the trees.

  • decorated christmas tree

    Children's trees on display at the Museum

  • decorated christmas tree

    Victorian splendor: the A.T. Stewart Tree

  • decorated christmas tree

    The Santa Tree by Harder Service

  • decorated christmas tree

    Hope Holds You Like an Anchor Tree - by the Welcoming Club

  • decorated christmas tree

    Blue and White by Devonshire Home Design

  • decorated christmas tree

    The Cookie Christmas Tree by Joan Schmidt

Each tree had a unique theme, so no two were alike: “Victorian Splendour”, from the A.T. Stewart Exchange; “Into The Woods”, from The Traci Conway Clinton Team at Compass; “Hope Holds You Like An Anchor, So You Don’t Give Way”, from The Welcoming Club;  “The Cookie Christmas Tree”, by JCB’s Artisan Confections; “A Blue & White Christmas”, by Devonshire Home Design; “The Santa Tree”, by Harder Services; “White Christmas”, from The Historical Society; “Silver Bells”, from Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty; “Home for the Holidays”, from Coach Realtors.

The Festival of Trees were on display for both days of the Holiday Market and auctioned to the highest bidders.

Valuable raffles were donated by merchants and Historical Society Directors, including an original oil painting of the Stanford White-designed Garden City Hotel, donated by Walt Winchurch Fine Art.

The Children’s Trees, made possible by donations to a GoFundMe campaign launched by Society Director Jessica Jones, and the support and involvement of the school administrations, custodial staffs and art teachers at Stewart and Stratford Schools, were delivered by Historical Society Directors to brighten the holidays of needy families in the parish of Our Lady of Loretto and through the outreach program of St. Joseph’s Church.

The Historical Society wishes to thank everyone who contributed and worked hard to make the Holiday Village & Market the success it was.  It supported local entrepreneurs and artisans, showcased the artistic talents of Garden City’s children, designers, organizations, businesses and contributed to the ongoing restoration of the society’s 1872 Apostle House Museum, being accomplished with the magnanimous support of Vinny Muldoon’s Old World Quality Corp.

Please follow The Historical Society on Instagram and Facebook to learn more: @gardencityhistoricalsociety

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