Spring Arts & Craft Festival

In addition to my website at http://www.laurelmtbasket.com/ I have a brick and mortar retail studio located in a beautifully renovated factory building called Eastworks in Easthampton, Ma. Eastworks houses artists, crafters, two restaurants, small business, photographers, a driving school, the Pioneer Valley Ballet School, a salon, a gym and retail shops.
For the past several years, we merchants have gotten some of our very talented friends to join us the Saturday before Mother's Day for a Spring Festival. The juried show features locally produced jewelry, photography, art, home decor, clothing, gift baskets (by me of course), candles, handcrafted dolls, soaps and lotions, hand knits, pottery, and much, much more. We still have openings in a few categories so if you are an artist or crafter interested in obtaining a booth, contact me at www.info@laurelmtbasket.com.
Open to the public with no admission charge and free parking, the May 9th event begins at 10:00 a.m. and runs until 4:00 p.m. We still have a few opening for vendors in a few categories so if you are an artists or crafter and are interested in a booth, contact me at info@laurelmtbasket.com for details.
The Spring Festival at Eastworks is a great place to find one of a kind Mother's Day gifts. In addition to the crafters, artists and retailers, The Your Way Gourmet will be serving up delicious meals and snacks all day long.
Just 20 minutes north of Springfield, Ma we conveniently located on Pleasant Street in Easthampton. For driving directions, go to the Eastworks website at http://www.eastworks.com/.

Administrative Professionals Day -Apr 22nd

According to Wikipedia, National Secretaries Week (the predecessor of Administrative Professionals week) was created in 1952. Working with the marketing firm of Young & Rubican, the International Association of Administrative Professionals was concerned about the shortage of skilled office workers and wanted to encourage people to consider careers in the secretarial and administrative support fields by promoting the value and importance of administrative jobs. In 1981 the name was changed to Professional Secretaries Week and in 2000 it was again changed to Administrative Professionals Week. The name changes reflected the changes in responsibilities and the expanding wide range of job titles taking place in the administrative support field.
No matter what you choose to call it, it is an opportunity to show your administrative staff how much you appreciate their hard work and dedication. You may think that a good salary, pleasant office environment and generous benefits are what employees want from a job. These are important of course, but when asked what they wanted, many responded that they wanted respect, to be appreciated and to know that the organization valued their contribution. A sincere "thank you" will go a long way.
In good times and in hard times, a loyal, professional staff contributes greatly to the health of any organization.
Call your gift basket professional assistant today! At Laurel Mountain Basket Company we offer a full line of appropriate corporate gift baskets , like our Daily Grind Gift Basket (shown). We design our gift basket to fit every taste and every budget.

Going Green In Holyoke

For those of us who grew up in the Valley (the Pioneer Valley that is) and marched the 2.6 mile long parade route with our high school band or town drum corp, the Holyoke (MA) St Patrick's Day Parade is not only a part of our own personal history but is an annual event shared with family and friends. Started in 1952 the Holyoke Parade has grown to become the second largest in the country, New York City's being number one. The event draws over one million viewers, boasts 40,000 marchers, 30 floats and 40 marching bands including the Philadelphia Mummers and Springfield's (MA) own Melha Shriners.
Over the 57 year history many famous people have marched along side our high school bands including the then Senator, John F. Kennedy and his wife, actor Robert Stack, actress Maureen O'Hara, author Tom Clancy as well as astronauts, and national sports figures. Of course, no St Patrick's Day Parade would be worth its green beer without a beautiful Coleen and her court, local dignitaries and contingents from the area Chambers of Commerce.
In 1976, a 10K road race was added to the festivities. Held the Saturday before the Parade, the race continues to grow, last year hosting 3,000 runners. Many acomplished runners use the Holyoke event as a training race for the Boston Marathon. The celebration also includes Irish Night events in many of the surrounding towns featuring the traditional corned beef and cabbage dinners with plenty of Irish soda bread and of course, green beer.
It's great fun.... Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!