Food For Thought

The month of October is Adopt A Shelter Dog Month. Laurel Mountain Basket Company is dog friendly and we donate a portion from the sale of all of our pet gifts to several local animal rescue services. I also donate items I know the shelters need to continue to operate. Items like gently used toys, office supplies and laundry supplies. This year I decided to send an e-mail to our clients and let them know, that during the month of October, I was collecting items for the local shelter. I know that our clients are great people but I was amazed at the response we got.

We collected several cases of canned dog and cat food, a big box of office supplies, another box of paper products and laundry supplies. Blankets, towels, pet dishes, collars, and leashes, Hundreds, yes hundreds, of dog and cat toys, all of them in perfect condition, many of them new. Dog beds and three cat condos!

Well, it's November and Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away. To me, Thanksgiving means food and lots of it. We celebrate Thanksgiving with my sister and her family in Connecticut and every year she serves up a wonderfully traditional Thanksgiving meal. Everything from turkey to pumpkin pie with plenty left over for sandwiches for the next day. It was touch and go with the stuffing the first couple of years after she got married since she and her husband wanted to use their family recipe. They've been married now for over 25 years, so I guess it worked out okay.

We are very fortunate but we know there are many who are not. That's why I've decided, since collecting for the shelters was such a success, we are going to collect food for our local food pantry. From now until Thanksgiving day, Laurel Mountain Basket Company will be collecting non perishable food for the Easthampton Food Pantry.

Help share our good fortune, bring your food contributions to the Laurel Mountain Basket Company studio at the Eastworks building at 116 Pleasant Street in Easthampton any time. We filled our Toyota 4 Runner with supplies for the animals, I' m hoping to do the same for the people of Easthampton.

Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving!

Every Day is a Holiday!

In the gift basket business, we help people celebrate special occasions every day. Today we get to celebrate a special occasion in our own household. It's my husband's birthday. It's also the day in 1839 when baseball was born which is very appropriate since Vic is an avid baseball fan. Living in Massachusetts, he favors the Red Sox most of the time, but has enough enthusiasm for the game to spread around, especially during the playoffs and the World Series.

June 12th is also Magic Day, Machine Day and Crowded Nest Awareness Day. Being so involved with birthdays and baseball, we don't celebrate these other events too much.

I love holidays! I was born on Thanksgiving Day and for years I thought everyone got the day off from work and had a big party because it was my birthday. It's still one of my favorites. That's probably because we get to enjoy my sister's hospitality each year and I don't have to do any of the cooking. Bringing a fresh baked pie from one of the local farm shops and a bottle of wine is the extent of my contribution.

Sunday is Father's Day. I hope Vic is not expecting too much this year since the dogs and I have not had a chance to shop yet. The old saying about the shoemakers children not having shoes also applies to gift shop owners and their families not receiving gifts!

Have a happy June 12th! Celebrate your life!

Marie