What is your favorite part of the holiday season? The family get-togethers? The church services? The lights? The parties?
One of my favorite activities is gift wrapping in the mall. Strange, isn’t it, how one activity can remind us of a person, place or memory?
I came from a very poor family, but my mother always found a way to get us a new outfit and a dolly. Sometimes, they may have been from the thrift shop, sometimes new, sometimes homemade. But Santa always found us just the right item.
Mom shopped year-round for her bargains and hid them in the attic. Since we were not allowed up there, it was a safe hiding space (until we got older and knew better). When the Olean Center Mall opened, she would spend lots of time there scoping out sales and clearance items.
As she got older and her ability to walk long distances got harder, Mom would still spend time at the mall. She was a giving person and would help people out whenever she could — giving food, attention and even bringing them home for a place to stay. My Mom was amazing!
Mom also loved animals. It didn’t matter whether it was a deer, wild bird, farm animal, cat or dog. We always had animals on the farm. We had a goose that would chase my brother-in-law and try to bite him as Harley ran to the house. We had a goat that loved to ride down to Dewey White’s Store in the car. We had a grown pig that thought the kitchen was his private pen. (He was a clean pig, just didn’t like being alone.)
When the SPCA started Home for the Holidays (sometime after her death), I decided it was a wonderful way to honor her memory. Animals, the mall, people and my favorite activity, gift wrapping. So every year I would help out some and wrap presents for people. Gift wrapping became my way of giving back to the community and remembering my childhood and my Mom.
Last year, when Liz hurt her leg, I helped out more, scheduling people to cover the shifts at the mall. It’s wonderful to see people every year come to the SPCA store, year after year. One family is there Black Friday morning waiting for us to open. Ron did his shopping during the early morning sales and wanted the gifts wrapped before his wife snooped. Another guy, Tim, comes every year with a carload of items for wrapping, usually the day before Christmas and the ladies and I hurry to get it all done for him.
Also, I really enjoy showing teenage young men how to wrap their girlfriends’ present. (That’s one skill most moms don’t show their sons.)
This year, I am doing the schedule again, but it is harder to find people willing to give up a couple hours to volunteer at the store and with the gift wrapping. People are busier, less willing to wrap a gift while listening to a story about someone’s pet, unable to slow down and give a little bit for others who may have lost a loved one (family member or pet). That’s what I like most, the listening. Like my Mom, I have become a mall rat. After all, I learned from the best.
This year, the SPCA will have a space in the mall across from Renna’s. Since the SPCA has a different group of people running it, the store may be a bit different, but the gift wrapping will be the same. My favorite people will be available to wrap your gifts for free. There will be a donation jar available for those who wish to thank us; all the money from the gift wrapping will go to items for the animals that the SPCA cares for.
We are there today through Tuesday, Christmas Eve. Hours may vary, due to volunteer coverage, but we hope to remain open from noon to 8 p.m., except on Sundays and Christmas Eve. Those times are noon to 5 p.m.
Look for me. I love to wrap presents and there is seldom a gift that I can’t find a way to cover with Christmas paper. We usually have plain paper, Hanukkah paper and birthday wrap too.
If anyone would like to share this experience with me, please call 307-1787.
Happy Holidays, everyone. Please enjoy the season and be safe.
(Ms. Desnoyers lives in Allegany.)
