Orillia's Santa Claus Parade heads down Mississaga Street on Sunday November 22nd starting at 1 pm this year. If you need to warm up we'll have some toasty hot chocolate with marshmellows and whip cream waiting. And if you love a parade don't miss Downtown Orillia's Candlelight Parade which starts down at the Legion at 7 pm on Friday November 20th. It's a pretty event as they light the trees downtown and all the little ones get to carry a keepsake candle up Mississaga Street.

Please be our guest as we usher in the beginning of the yuletide season with our 23rd annual Old Fashioned Christmas Party. On Sunday November 29th we'll be baking up 180 feet of chocolate yule log and over 4000 cookies so do stop in for a treat. Santa will be dropping by for the day and your little ones can get their picture done with ol' St. Nick and chat over just how good they've been this year! Plus there's vats of hot chocolate, live entertainment, draws, face painting...and it's all free of course. We truly appreciate all the support you've given the store all these years so please be our guest on Sunday November 29th from 8 am till 5:30 pm.

During the summer we always stay open a little later so do drop by if you're catching a show at the Opera House, strolling the boardwalk down at the Park, or just looking for something to do when that pesky rain is falling. We're open till 8 pm Mondays through Thursdays and till 9 pm on Fridays. Okay...it's not that late, but when you're up at 3 am baking you do tuck in a little earlier than most!

And there's lots to fill you in. First, the city is giving our back parking lot an impressive facelift. Actually it's more than a facelift...more of a total body makeover with pretty trees, hertitage light fixtures, nice walkways...the works. The neat thing is they're digging down really deep to get rid of the old foundations of houses from the start of the last century. This is so the lot won't settle in the future and to get the ramps just right so the cars won't scrape and bump up the incline anymore. It should all be done in just a few short weeks.

Mother's Day is May 10th this year and there's great sales and free gifts with purchase in the Scent and Seasons Shop as well as our Emporium. Plus Cathy, Mandy and Raymund have been busy creating new theme cakes for Mom.

Victoria Day Weekend falls early this year-we'll be open our 8 am till 5:30 pm 'holiday hours' on Victoria Day Monday the 18 of May. Oh...and we're open till 9pm on Friday nights in case your winding your way up to the cottage and are looking for a Texas Donut fix.

The  Friday and Saturday following the long weekend (May 22nd & 23rd) is the Spring Sidwalk Sale throughout Downtown Orillia. We'll be featuring some live demos from our friends who make Bee By The Sea, a very unique line of skin therapy products made with Seabuckthorn. Definitely worth  seeing!

The other really interesting thing you should know about is the great historical photographs we have playing on our in store tv. They're shots of Old Orillia...some going back as far as 1910, as well as shots of the old stores in Downtown Orillia back in the 40's, 50's and 60's. I really want to thank Marcel Rousseau from the Orillia Museum of Art & History who scoured the archives and sent over some wonderful photographs.