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"A Shop Within A Shop" Unique Handmade Items Made By People Living With Parkinson's Disease |
JITTERBUG opened in Chillicothe, IL. on Saturday, November 17th just in time for the kick-off of the Christmas shopping season. Our little corner of the retail world is located in the Happy Thoughts Coffee Shop, World Class Travel Company and the Vault gift shop.
The owner of the three existing businesses (which are located in an old downtown bank building) donated the space and the manpower to give our special “shop within a shop” a chance to earn money for People Living With Parkinson’s. Sarah Williamson and her family are the owners and operators of this popular gathering place for Chillicotheans-whether they are in the mood for homemade soup, delicious homemade pastries, travel plans, a cup of flavored coffee, cappuccino, or a special gift. The gifts are located in the old bank vault, thus the name.
With Chillicothe’s new mayor leading the way to a unique and thriving downtown area with lots of antique shops, gift shops and craft stores set amid old-time lighting posts and park-like walks, this is a perfect place for our project.
Holly Angus, the talent and the driving force behind this venture, is a busy 38-year-old wife and mother of one, active in school and church activities and who has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease for about 6 years. It is her handiwork, which she calls her “therapy” which led to the idea for JITTERBUG. Holly also came up with the catchy name for the enterprise, which we feel conveys the novelty and the attitude of the business as well as the general feeling of the movements which are daily life for lots of PLWP’s.
Holly’s talent is demonstrated in her beautiful and charming one of a kind, hand sewn vests; made out of cut felt pieces. She has also created special occasion vests with Christmas ornaments for decoration and the bulbs are made with hand-sewn beading. Her talent spills over onto everything she touches. Flowerpots, ceramic mugs, coffee cups and trinket boxes all become works of art as she transforms them.
But that isn’t all that we have in our shop! Last week, PLWP Laura Dean (our very own Harley) sent two large boxes filled with a breathtaking array of her handiwork. Truly a gifted artist, she has designed and donated to us, four of the most lovely grapevine wreaths and two lovingly created floral baskets. These have been an unexpected bounty and we are sure that they will set the tone of our shop.
Another contributor to this effort is Carol Post (CAZ to those of us who love her!). She sent a box full of hand crocheted ornaments that will be gracing the Christmas trees of some of the locals.
We have a display of Jim & Donna Newton’s CD project, “The Stronger The Wind” and the CD plays continually inside the Vault shopping area.
| Then there are the other things, Christmasy decorations made by a friend of a friend whom I have come to know, Karen Holtz. Karen is from Chillicothe and had been diagnosed with PD for 3 years and when I mentioned the shop to her, she responded by bringing up a boxful of beautiful creations. |
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We have handmade macaroni angels from Mike Koontz of North Carolina, and we're expecting new arrivals next week from Joel Bell of Alabama, Sandy Norris of NC and Naomi Charest of New Hampshire.
My contribution to JITTERBUG is knowing the right people to do the major work involved: Sarah, the owner and my contacts with the media. So far, we have been featured on a TV news segment called Hometown Heroes and we have had an ad in a special Christmas supplement to our local paper. And we have been promised lots of local coverage from all three area-newspapers.
If anyone would like to make a contribution to JITTERBUG, please, please let me know. Sarah has promised us all the space we can fill and the proceeds all will be coming to People Living With Parkinson’s. If you would like to be reimbursed for your materials, we can do that if you let us know the cost, but if your goal is to make money for yourself, we need to add an extra 10% for the proprietors of Happy Thoughts.
Joan Snyder (Jes)
