Holiday market is back, helping out local charity

PINE PLAINS — The historic Stissing House restaurant will be host to a rejuvenated holiday market this weekend, and a special preview event to be held Friday evening will double as a fundraiser for the local Adopt-a-Family chapter.

Patricia Jean, owner of The Stissing House, said in a phone interview last week before Thanksgiving that the holiday market, which is being dubbed “Le Shopping,� has been held in years past but fell by the wayside because of the amount of organization required around the holidays, which is a busy time for any restaurant.

“We’ve always thought it was nice to do, but it was kind of daunting to organize,� Jean said. This year, local public relations firm Bang + Collins stepped in to help bring back the event with a few new twists.

The market will be held on the second floor of The Stissing House Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 4 and 5, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free and more than 15 local vendors will be setting up tables full of personal and home accessories and gifts.

Friday, Dec. 3, there will be a special preview event and cocktail party from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The $20 admission fee will be donated in full to the local Adopt-A-Family chapter, run by Stacey Moore.

Thirty families in need have already signed up to receive new winter clothing, games and toys for the holidays this year, Moore reported, with many more anticipated. Last year the final tally reached 110 families and 325 children.

“It will probably be just as big this year,� she said, from years of experience, “but we’ve been getting a good early start here.�

Unlike previous years, the Adopt-A-Family chapter, which covers the Pine Plains and Webutuck school districts and is a part of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, will not be holding any specific fundraisers of its own in 2010. That makes contributions from private residents and local organizations, including the market preview benefit, a “huge� support for the cause, she said.

“We’re hoping it will mutually benefit the organization as well,� Moore said. “People do make more of an effort to reach out when they know it’s benefiting someone else.�

That being said, The Stissing House will of course be open for dinner Friday evening as well as both Saturday and Sunday. The Stissing House is located on the corner of the main intersection of routes 199 and 82 in Pine Plains.

To make a donation to Adopt-A-Family, checks can be made out to Adopt-A-Family and sent to PO Box 880, Millerton, NY 12546.

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