by Dennis Dalman
The 12th annual “Shop Small Crawl” will bring together people in a celebratory pre-Christmas fun event in downtown St. Joseph and the immediate area from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30.
This year, the event is sponsored by Bruno Press, Seed to Glass, Pluck Flowers Farm, Songbird Kitchens, Scrub Me Good, WR Home Company, Sal’s Bar & Grill, Bad Habit Brewing Company, The Local Blend, White Peony Boutique and Minnesota Street Market. All of those places will be on the Shop Small Crawl route.
Shop Small Crawl is a festive, unifying gathering that connects people to get to know one another, as well as businesses and their owners, highly creative entrepreneurs and talented local artists and crafts-people.
The event, intended for families, will provide a shuttle that will transport participants to each of the 12 business stops on the Shop Small Crawl route. People can also walk from shop to shop in the downtown area, but the shuttle bus will be available to take people to and from places not in the immediate downtown area.
Each participant can pick up a punch card at any one of the participating businesses and then get the card punched at each of the businesses along the route of the Shop Small Crawl. Then, at the end of the event, a punched card will be picked randomly from a container, and a winner will receive a gift basket containing goodies from all of the participating artists and businesses.
A map of the participating businesses is printed on the back of each punch card.
Shop Small Crawl was initiated 12 years ago by Mary Bruno, owner of Bruno’s Press in southeast St. Joseph, which is one of the stops on the Shop Small Crawl.
Bruno described the event as a way to “showcase” the incredible talents and products that can be found locally – the unique, the handmade, the genuine. Shop Small Crawl, she said, is focused on learning to shop locally, fostering entrepreneurship, nurturing local artists and building sustainable partnerships that make St. Joseph a thriving, dynamic, strong area in which to live and work.
At Shop Small Crawl, participants can expect to visit boutiques, bakeries, gift shops and to see talented artists at work. Local musicians and entertainers will be performing at places along the route.
This is a view of Christmas holiday items available at W R Home Company in downtown St. Joseph. The business is one of 11 that will be included on the Shop Small Crawl event Saturday, Nov. 30. The shop is located at 25 First Ave. in St. Joseph.
