By Paige Jackson ’24
One day this upcoming winterim, the second floor of TPACC will be transformed into a holiday wonderland. The flex room will be opened up, and the entire floor will be filled to the brim with Christmas music, festive movies, and shops. This is a new school tradition, and students are very excited to experience the first-ever Frederick Gunn Holiday Market.
Erin Whitney will be running the Holiday Market with the help of Ms. Rimany and Ms. Ruscz. Several clubs will be collaborating with the trio to set up a table of their choosing, but anyone with products to sell is welcome. Ms. Rimany will be selling her famous English Teacher Candle Co products (not for dorm use). Clubs will have the opportunity to sell various goods to raise money for their club’s specific needs or to donate to charities they believe in. In addition, the Market will raise spirits and excitement for the upcoming holidays.
“We are going to have a bunch of booths set up for different clubs and groups on campus to sell items, as well as a coat drive and some other fun holiday activities,” Whitney explained. “It is going to be an opportunity for students to pick up last-minute gifts for the all-school gift exchange at the holiday dinner and get gifts for family and friends for the holidays.”
Students can buy gifts for the school gift exchange, or for their families and friends back home. This is a great idea for boarding students because it can be hard to prepare for upcoming holidays if you can not shop in person or you struggle to shop online. The school-wide gift exchange will occur soon after, and for those who don’t know, it is a prefect-run event involving the entire student body.
“It’s usually right after the winter concert,” said Caroline Marich. “It really brought the community together and everyone was showing their holiday spirit and love for eachother.”
“You got to meet new people, surprise someone, and make them happy with the gift you picked out for them,” Hadley Nussbaum added. This exchange is very important to our school community, so you definitely want to be prepared for it and pick up a gift at the Holiday Market.
Since it is important to remember those in need during the winter months, there will also be a coat drive working with a soon-to-be-revealed Washington, CT charity.
More information on the Holiday Market will be released soon, but make sure to start thinking about what your club could sell or what you need to buy for the upcoming holiday season. Anyone with a fun and festive idea for the Market, or just wants to be included in the planning or making a booth can contact Erin Whitney.
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