May your season be Merry & Bright!
Whenever my father wanted us to do something immediately or pick up the pace, he would say, “What are you waiting for? Christmas?” Well, the holiday season has arrived in this issue of Pointe Magazine.
There is no better place to spend the holidays than in the Pointes. We go all out for “exterior illumination,” as Clark Griswold would say. All we need to do is travel Lake Shore to be convinced. There’s the annual extravaganza of the Mack-Moross home and, just up the boulevard, the tree covered in white lights from the base to the apex and every branch in between.
Of course, the light show doesn’t end there. Many of our local businesses are picking up the tradition of facades covered with curtains of lights made popular in Rochester.
Grosse Pointe’s many churches bring out their Nativities, and homeowners bring out their icicle lights, wreaths, garland and other goodies to make the season bright. Of course, the interiors of our homes are just as festive, as our “At Home in the Pointes” cover bears witness.
The season kicks off with the annual Grosse Pointe Santa Claus Parade on the day after Thanksgiving. There is no more uniquely Grosse Pointe event. Did you know the Grosse Pointe Santa Parade debuted in 1975? This year’s parade, dubbed “A Musical Christmas,” will feature Santa’s brand new sleigh. We applaud the Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce board for stepping up — just in time for this Christmas!
As our good friend Jenny Boettcher, Chamber president and executive director, says, “There’s no place like home for the holidays!”
As always, be sure to patronize our many loyal advertisers this holiday seanson and tell them you saw them — or not! — in Pointe Magazine.
See you around the Pointe!
John Minnis
Publsiher
It is hard to believe this is our sixth year publishing Merry & Bright, alongside our spotlights on holiday shopping, in the November-December issue.
Since starting these shopping features, I’ve watched countless businesses open and remain open. Bookstores, boutiques, salons, restaurants. You’d be hard-pressed to find an empty storefront these days. I’m grateful to live somewhere where shopping small is not only valued, but expected.
People joke about ‘The Bubble,’ but it is extraordinary how little we have to leave town for! I recently joked to another mom at school pick-up that I’ve grown too used to driving on roads that never exceed 35 mph. Even heading downtown, where we love to celebrate the holidays, we can easily take Jefferson at a leisurely speed. We are spoiled for shopping and dining in this special little enclave of metro Detroit. In each issue, but especially the November-December issue, we seek to celebrate this.
Like Kasey Malley, co-owner of Small Favors, told me, now that we have entered a new era following the pandemic, I am more grateful than ever to live in a community where shop owners remember me by name and relationships are made everywhere I go.
She said, “It’s about being a part of this community. It’s about relationships. It’s why we love what we do.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. At this time of year, the community feels just a bit more magical. I look forward to running into friends while last minute Christmas shopping, attending the multiple tree lightings, taking my kids to see Santa Claus at Ford House, waving at familiar faces in the Grosse Pointe Santa Claus Parade.
Let’s do our part to keep enriching the community we love so much and shop small this holiday season.
Happy Holidays!
Lauren McGregor
Editor