The season of giving sparked joy in the residents of Newberry as they roamed the Historic Downtown Newberry park Dec. 3 through Dec. 4.
The Sycamore Lane Vintage Market store, located at 25310 W Newberry Road, and an adjacent park was decked out in Christmas decorations for the holiday season. The park held over 40 vendors and featured a life-size gingerbread house for children to play in and take photos with.
Joel and Jen Searby began hosting markets in 2018, starting out with about 12 vendors and a couple hundred attendees held in their front yard.
“We've always loved old things and building community,” Joel said.
This is the 12th vintage market the couple has hosted. The market’s first holiday themed event took place last year. Joel said he hadn’t anticipated the large crowd last year, so this time the market blocked off an extra street.
Joel, 41, said he is proud to support local businesses through the holidays.
“We should put our money where we want our priorities to go,” Joel said. “For our family, that is about not only having people buy things that are reused and created by local makers but also just to get people together.”
Reggie Nelson, a 38-year-old Gainesville resident, was one of the vendors selling candles at the market.
He founded his online company, Daily Burn Candle Studio, in April.
He began going to markets and festivals in May and has gone to a couple each month since then. But Nelson said 70% of his profits will probably come from purchases made in the next month because of the holidays.
“For anyone who does like fragrance — really any kind of handmade style but definitely candles — this is your time,” he said.
Nelson said his candles’ names are what draw people to his tent.
The candles — “Purple rain & lavender keeps me sane,” “Dear mama,” “Domo arigato Mr. Tobacco,” “Dream lover I sea you” and “Black violet if you please” — are named after song lyrics that are easily recognizable by any ‘80s kid, he said.
Jeanne Diehl, a 61-year-old Gainesville resident and an antique vendor at the market, loves going to garage sales — a “bad hobby” of hers, she said. A Hallmark movie fan, when she heard about a Christmas-themed small town market, she had to participate and share her collection of items.
She placed her smaller antiques like porcelain miniatures on the table and the larger ones like children’s rocking chairs on the ground.
The centerpiece of her garage sale finds this weekend was painted snowmen on reclaimed fence wood planks. She saw the idea on Pinterest and she and her sister spent hours painting them together.
Violet Colson, a 59-year-old Trenton resident, started making crafts about one year ago, primarily selling them through her Facebook page.
She makes her big, bright and sparkly wreaths all year round and has one for every occasion. Her colorful products are most popular with children, especially the shells.
Colson brings a tub of painted shells with her to every market because she knows they are a hit with children.
“You can go to Amazon, Hobby Lobby, but it's not handmade,” she said. “You may pay a little more for a handmade item because we make it ourselves and we don't buy in bulk by millions. But it's a better quality product.”
Bryce Williams, a 15-year-old Loften High School student, came out with his mom and brother to support the market. He said he bought a jacket for himself and a Christmas present for a friend.
He enjoys events like these where the community can enjoy each other’s company and the atmosphere of it all. He also believes that buying from his local community makes the presents feel more special.
“You're able to actually tangibly touch it,” he said. “You’re able to get that feeling and sense of, ‘Okay, this is definitely what I'm giving to someone,’ instead of just looking at an image online.”
Contact Jiselle at jlee@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @jiselle_lee.
Jiselle Lee was The Alligator’s Summer 2023 Editor-In-Chief. She was previously a reporter with NextShark News and a reporting intern at The Bradenton Herald.
