NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, Nov. 13.
PORT ANGELES — It’s beginning to look a lot like the Christmas season this weekend at the Vern Burton Community Center in Port Angeles.
Early signs of Christmas in Port Angeles have included the Original Christmas Cottage Craft Show for 35 years.
Christmas Cottage will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St.
Admission is free.
Variety of items
This year, 21 vendors from Forks, Port Angeles and Sequim will offer a wide variety of holiday-related items, including gifts, ornaments, home decor, garden decor and jewelry.
“Many of our vendors travel to King or Pierce County [craft shows], but we all really have an affinity for this one,” said Karen Blore, a member of the Christmas Cottage governing board.
Blore has worked on Christmas Cottage since its first year in 1980.
Similar handmade items from vendors will be collected into specific sections, such as those for ornaments, jewelry, flat goods or snowmen, Blore said.
There will be a single payment location for all items sold from vendors, she said.
Food purchases are separate.
Blore said volunteers will stand ready to help shoppers find the items they seek and help carry items as needed.
This year, the food court will be inside Vern Burton, where visitors can sit inside with friends to chat over hot food made by Christmas Cottage members in the kitchen there, she said.
Christmas Cottage is a good place to find a place to head to during bad weather, she said, citing its large, warm indoor venue.
Santa Claus
Santa Claus will be available in Santa Corner for photographs from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. today, from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday.
No photos will be sold. Guests should bring their own cameras.
“Anyone is welcome to get a picture with Santa, from birth to 90 [years old],” Blore said.
Pets are also welcome.
“Santa loves animals,” she said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.