Becky and Billy Bending are selling their new line of handmade leather goods at the Holiday Market this year.
Cornelia City Park turned into a soggy winter wonderland this weekend as folks came out to enjoy the city’s festival of fun.
‘Christmas in the Park’, Cornelia’s annual three-day holiday event, ended Saturday, but not before folks got in some shopping, skating, and Santa time.
Events kicked off Thursday with Santa holding court in the Community House. Dancers entertained in the main hall. And vendors set up shop in the basement. Delita Perrino of Atlanta was among them. She owns Gifts Galore in Atlanta. Perrino designs and sells much of her own merchandise including jewelry, clothing, and body oils.
Although she’s accustomed to traveling for business, Perrino says this year she wanted to stay close to home.
“I do events every weekend,” she says. Perrino travels as far as Kentucky and Ohio but this year, Cornelia caught her eye.
“I looked it up [Christmas in Cornelia] and it looked like it was going to be a pretty decent event so I signed up,” she says.
Staying close to home wasn’t an issue for Becky and Billy Bending, They own the Country Cobbler in Cornelia, less than a mile away from the Community House. He’s been repairing shoes there for over 35 years. “Folks don’t realize that you can still fix shoes,” Billy laments. The couple branched out this year and started making handmade leather goods to expand their business. That’s what drove them to sign up as first time sellers at the Holiday Market.
“We started making belts and wallets and all the other stuff earlier this year,” explains Becky. “We did the Big Red Festival and it led to this.”
Other vendors had handpainted plaques, handcrafted gifts and homemade goodies for sale.
For those lucky few who are already done with their shopping, there was still plenty else for them to do at Christmas in the Park. The schedule called for ice skating, hayrides, light watching, and more.
The Holiday Market, Santa, and rides are now gone for the year but there’s still plenty of time to enjoy the lights.
Cornelia’s popular Christmas light display opens at dusk nightly and runs through the first of the next year.
An ice-skating rink was set up in the park behind the Cornelia Community House.
For those who missed Christmas in the Park, there’s still time for you to join in the celebration.
Cornelia will host the Habersham County Christmas Parade on Tuesday, January 18.
The parade will begin at 6:30 p.m. from Cornelia Elementary School on Old Cleveland Road.
