Hunting for bargains
Hunting season kicks off with Chamber-sponsored shopping event
Formerly known as Ladies Day, this weekend saw the beginning of the newly-branded “Save a Buck, Spend Some Doe” shopping event in Valley City, meant to mark the start of hunting season with a litany of sweet deals, giveaways, treats and more at participating businesses around Valley City.
“We were so thrilled with the turnout for our Save a Buck, Spend Some Doe event,” Kay Vinje, Executive Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, told the Times-Record. “The two days were fantastic.”
Though under a new name, the annual event has been held for years in Valley City and most everybody who took part last year participated this year as well. Joining the old favorites, though, were two new businesses in the downtown: the Green Room and Aesthetica, a florist and a health spa respectively. A wide assortment of businesses took part, though, offering giveaways, baked goods, and even wine samples to entice shoppers to come in and spend.
“People know it’s worth their while to come in,” Vinje said. “They’re discovering all the beautiful Christmas things going on.”
New this year was a student-led business expo in the depths of the Strauss Mall, where a pair of very different crafts stalls showcased the efforts of a very different group of students. A class from the Sheyenne Valley Career and Technical Center had a display of the hand-crafted products they had made in class, earning credit and raising money through their salesmanship as well as craftsmanship.
Across the way from them was another set of students – a pair of homeschoolers, to be precise, both under fiveyears-old.
“Both of them are really shy so I was trying to think of a way to get them to open up and talk to people,” Tasha Glassman, mother of Tidus and Devyn, said. “Being homeschooled, there are some downsides to it – the socialization isn’t always there. This has been a way for me to bridge that gap. It also helps with math, you get a ton of art credits, communications skills – there’s a whole list of things … it’s a fun way for them to learn lifelong lessons.”
Devyn Glassman, Tasha’s daughter, said that her favorite part of the project – which tasked the children to paint their wooden keychains and cutouts by hand – was “getting messy” while working with paint, mixed with shaving cream, that lend the keychains a unique and vibrant look. The Glassman’s were raising money to support Awana, a Bible-based homeschool program that they are a part of, which has weekly meetings on Wednesdays at First Baptist Church in Valley City.