This weekend was “Home for the Holidays” in Brownsville.  There were lots of events from Santa visiting, charity auctions for decorated Christmas trees, silent auction of many goodies and an art fair at the art center.  We stayed home this weekend to enjoy all of the cuteness of Brownsville.

It started with Popcorn

We recently acquired an awesome popcorn maker and cart that just needed a clean-up and small repair. Since it is adorable and portable we thought a great way to finally meet the people in our town would be to go to the holiday fair and hand out popcorn.

I sent a message to one of the leaders in town and got an immediate, excited response.  The Art Center would love to have us provide popcorn.  This was perfect because the Art Center was hosting Santa Claus’s visit. We packed the machine on Saturday and headed downtown to be the “popcorn people”. Of course it was a big hit and was great to walk around town later and see everyone carrying around our popcorn, eating and shopping!

Santa Claus 

Santa means kids and kids love popcorn.  Especially when they can watch it being popped and overflowing the kettle. Santa was there in a custom built little cabin by local Bryan’s Woodshed to keep him warm and out of the weather.  Mrs. Claus was present, but sadly, no elves could make it…

Festival of Trees

Each local business sponsored a decorated, lit Christmas tree for charity auction.  Located inside each business, you could view the tree and bid on one silent auction style.  If you win, you take it home!  Or you can donated your winning tree to a family in need.  They each had a theme were absolutely amazing. Our bid was for the Jr. 4H club tree, but we were outbid. You can view more photos of the trees that were displayed on their facebook page here.

Silent Night Auction & Vino in the Vault

Probably one of the most fun and creative fundraisers I have seen was Vino in the Vault.  There is an old bank in town that is no longer operating but still present and used for events.  A benefit for Sharing Hands Food Bank was held here during the holiday event.  On one side there was a great silent auction with items from local artists, champagne brunch for 4, crabbing on the bay, picnic and wine baskets and much more.  The other part to this was the Vino in the Vault where you pay a $20 donation to the food bank and you get to draw an old safety deposit box key from the jar.  You then use this key to open a selected safety deposit box containing your surprise wine inside. The ladies running this event were singing and dancing and made opening your surprise wine so much fun! In all the excitement I forgot to get pictures of the event but there are a view on their page here. I did end up with a wine that everyone seemed excited for, so hope its good!