According to the hotel’s events and kitchen manager Jody Thompson, the event is about promoting the hotel, while giving local artisans an opportunity to show off their stuff and for the community to support them.

Along with complimentary tea and coffee, the Pine Lodge’s kitchen staff kept attendees’ hungers and thirsts satisfied, dishing out all sorts of delicious food and refreshments throughout the day.

With the entire hotel decorated in Christmas regalia from floor to ceiling and Christmas jingles playing in the background, the event offered eight rooms of festively decorated kiosks topped with a vast selection of products.

Boasting 55 vendors selling all sorts of stuff, including homemade soaps and creams, hand-crafted wooden furniture and a whole lot of Christmas-themed goods, the event attracted customers and businesses from both sides of the Ottawa river.

Attendees were invited to donate funds to Dr. S.E. McDowell Elementary’s School’s breakfast program, Thompson said.

Thompson explained that the event has grown exponentially since being established nearly a decade ago, from the number of vendors, to the size of the crowds it draws.

She noted that adding a lunch menu to the hotel’s restaurant has likely played a factor in the uptick in attendance at the event from one year to the next.

“We have had more customers,” she said. “More vendors come forward and the majority of our vendors are all local. We try to have at least 90-95 per cent of vendors that come from the Pontiac.”

She added that the event does a great job of promoting the business as well as other local enterprises, during a time of year that can be challenging for some.

“Nobody’s golfing or camping,” she said. “So, we need to give everybody another excuse to come enjoy Pine Lodge. It’s also important for the community because it generates another means of income for local crafters, artisans and vendors.”

Clarendon-based entrepreneur Marianne Desjardins-Roy proudly shows off her collection of homemade herbs and spices.

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