The holiday season is officially in full swing, they will be hard pressed to ignore the Christmas cheer for much longer.

Santa Claus and his entourage have already touched down in several places across the Pontiac, and over the weekend, crafters and bakers gathered at three separate holiday markets in Chapeau, Fort Coulonge, and Bristol to offer residents an opportunity to buy local this Christmas and get a head start on their gift shopping.

At Pine Lodge’s fifteenth annual Christmas Market in Bristol on Saturday, vendors filled every room of the resort’s ground floor, offering a variety of sweets and holiday decor.

Among the vendors were Bristol residents Danielle and Ryan Humble, whose specialty sweets business Fork and Kettle sneaks vegetables and essential oils into chocolates and candies to offer what Danielle calls a “guilt-free indulgence.”

Their specialty project is called “Sh-ocolates.” Danielle says that it’s like putting your finger up to your mouth to say “Shh” before revealing that the snack you’re having is actually chocolate.

Danielle said that the idea came from her and Ryan’s time fostering kids.

“We realized they had a hard time eating healthy food so I came up with this idea of making fresh pasta with vegetables in it so it would be a nice colour,” Danielle said. “When we started our candy business, I wondered if I could do the same thing instead with sweets.”

Danielle said that when people tried their samples, they tasted something nostalgic.

“People say that it reminds them of a candy they had when they were a kid,” Danielle said. “I’m pretty sure it didn’t have essential oils and vegetables in it, but somehow we’ve gotten close to that.”

While markets are the primary place they sell their sweets, they hope to expand to their own shop in the future.

Since moving back to Bristol, Ryan and Danielle purchased the former Anglican Church and are working to restore it into a home and down the road, a permanent shop for their business.

Fourth annual Fort Coulonge Christmas market

In Fort Coulonge, about a dozen vendors set up shop at the Golden Age Club for the fourth annual holiday market organized by Lise Soucie.

While Soucie herself is no longer a member of the club, she continues to support the club by renting the hall for this market, where she also sells some of her own creations every year.

When Soucie was four years old, her mom and aunt taught her to knit. Her first project was a pair of socks for her dolls. Fast forward about 55 years, the Mansfield resident is knitting complex stuffed animals and stockings.

Through word of mouth, people started hearing about her knitting. After having knit stockings for some of her family members, Soucie started to receive requests for personalized stockings.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Soucie said. “They cherish the stuff I make for them.”

First Christmas event in Chapeau’s new market building

Reported by youth reporter Leiya Fischer

In one of Pontiac’s westernmost towns, locals of all ages gathered to celebrate the holiday season at the Chapeau Agricultural Society’s fourth annual Christmas market on Saturday.

About 40 vendors, the most the market has ever seen, were set up in both the new, bright red farmers market building and at Harrington Community Hall next door, where a warm lunch was also served.

All shoppers were invited to enter their name in a draw for a prize donated by the Home Hardware in Fort Coulonge, and could enter as many times as the number of items they had purchased at the market.

Jane Kline was among those browsing the tables of local goodies, on the hunt for some Christmas gifts and lucking with some finger puppets for her grandson.

“I do crochet myself, so I like to see other people’s work”, Kline said. “I’m all in with the artsy.”

To add to the Christmas cheer, a big red chair was set up with many Christmas decorations for anyone who wanted to have a festive photo taken.

While this was the fourth year the market was organized, it was its first year where vendors, who in previous years often set up outdoors, were able to sell their goods – paintings, wood carvings, knitted items, many treats, to name but a few of the handmade holiday items available – from the warmth of the new market building.

“We’re lucky to have a building that’s going to be heated and be able to use it for multiple activities throughout the winter,” said Gene O’Brien, president of the agricultural society and one of the event’s organizers. She noted that if local vendors still had good to sell after Saturday’s market, they could continue to rent a spot in the new building for the remainder of the holiday season.

Pontiac’s holiday market frenzy is far from over, with more markets scheduled for Shawville’s McDowell Elementary School on Nov. 23, the Jack Graham Community Centre in Bristol on Nov. 30, and Calumet Island on Dec. 1, to name but a few of the upcoming opportunities to do some Christmas shopping.