On Friday, December 7th, 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, December 8th, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. our annual Old World Village and Christmas Market will be open and surprising you with some fun new additions at Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Christian Church, 1516 N. Delaware Street, 46202. It’s a Festival of Light and Hope in the Advent Season.

We will have the traditional entrance on 16th Street and an additional entrance through the St. Seraphim’s Bookstore facing N. Delaware Street (the yellow house next to our red brick church). The large front porch of the bookstore (open for your shopping pleasure) will serve as an outdoor expansion with a booth serving mulled wine and roasted nuts.

Take a stroll through our snowy European village, where you’ll find our seasonal greenery booth, new shops, stained glass (including demonstrations), hand-carved ornaments and boxes, and old-fashioned toys. Many people come specifically to shop at the General Store, which features vintage and hand-made items, many of which cannot be found anywhere else.

A special supervised Children’s Craft Room will be open for children to create Christmas crafts while parents shop.

Special events throughout the market include Santa Lucia’s visit on Friday night and the first-ever Storytelling Festival on Saturday, with costumed characters spinning Christmas tales.

An international café, offers a variety of hot meals, including the highly sought after Beef Stroganoff made just for this occasion by one of our members. Vegetarian options are also available.

Don’t let the crowd at the European Bakery fool you – service is fast, and the dazzling assortment will include German Pfeffernuesse Cookies, Slovenian Snowflakes, Cowboy Cookies, Gingerbread People, Rum Balls, Decorative Shortbread, Mint Brownies, Scandinavian Almond Bars, and “Napoleon” (a Russian specialty). Pies and cakes are sold whole or by the slice – take it home or pull up a chair at the café and enjoy it right away. Specialty coffee is also available.

While you’re here, ask about Transforming Joy, our Capital Campaign, which will help us purchase our building and allow our church members to continue to be a cornerstone of the community.

We call this our neighborhood Christmas Market, but the truth is that many people drive long distances every year to enjoy the fun and shop here. One couple told us, “We consider the Christmas Village and Market to be the beginning of our Christmas season. We’ve been attending for years!”

Don’t miss your entry for door prizes (winners need not be present at the drawing; we will notify you).

All this for a $3 donation; cash and credit cards accepted. Free parking is located behind the church (off 16th Street).

Many thanks to Stefanida Luque who provided much needed information and to Sandra McGuinness and Brigid Johns. I drew from their previous articles to compile this blog.

Writer Anna Glass looks forward to the Christmas Market every year. If you would like to share your experience of the Christmas Market, write to her at annetteglass03@gmail.com.