Christmas in Toyland

By Whitney Ormand, Holiday Olé Market 2014 Chair

Trees and lights at HEB, red cups at Starbucks, peppermint bark at Williams-Sonoma… It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  In fact, it looked a lot like Christmas, Christmas in Toyland, that is, at the Expo Hall last month.

  

We had 115 fabulous merchants from all over the country, and I know I got a lot of Christmas shopping done.  I may or may not have bought a few things for myself, too, but isn’t that part of the fun?  I think I took four loads of shopping bags to the car! 

And the special events the party team put on were absolutely amazing!  We kicked off the weekend with Sneak Peek featuring a silent auction, live music, fabulous food…and of course, shopping!  And lots of husbands enjoyed the big screen and whiskey in the Reindeer Stable that night.  I know mine did!  

Sneak Peek Silent Auction

Friday morning, we enjoyed a brunch event complete with Kendra Scott door prizes and a truly wonderful speech about friendship, motherhood and real life by Melanie Shankle.  If you haven’t read her best seller, Sparkly Green Earrings, I suggest you run to Barnes & Noble and pick it up!  Consider it your Christmas gift to yourself – enjoy!  

Author Melanie Shankle at Ready, Set, Shop!

Friday night capped off with Girls’ Night Out where ladies ate, drank and shopped ‘til they dropped!  

No one went home empty handed!

Saturday morning was my favorite event, and I don’t even have a little one…not yet anyway!  He’s scheduled to make his debut next month.  

My little one is due any day now!

Pajamas & Pancakes was such a fun morning!  Precious kiddos in their pajamas, delicious pancakes, painting, letters to Santa, and even a performance by the Sugar Plum Fairy!

The Sugar Plum Fairy enchanting everyone

And of course everyone wanted their picture with her

Want to know the best part of the weekend though?  ALL the funds raised by this event go right back into our community!  Our mission is to promote voluntarism, develop the potential of women and improve the community, and each and every dollar raised at Holiday Olé Market does just that.  We’re working on final numbers, but we’ll absolutely share those as soon as they come in!

The history of  the Junior League of San Antonio

All of our merchants, donors, sponsors, shoppers and volunteers make this event possible every year, and for that, we are eternally grateful!   We appreciate the support of our major sponsors: Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry, Capital Group Companies, Baptist Breast Center, News 4 WOAI, Bjorn’s, South Texas Money Management, Broadway Bank, Brio Tuscan Grille, Magnolia Pancake Haus, Corner Bakery, and especially our presenting sponsor, Valero, for their continued support!

Thank you to our sponsors!

And I would be remiss if I didn’t take a minute to thank the fabulous women on the Holiday Olé Market committee for their time, hard work and dedication.  Without them, this event would not be possible!  It is truly an honor to work with such an amazingly talented and committed group of ladies, and I continue to be amazed by the strength and character of our Junior League of San Antonio volunteers.

2014 Holiday Olé Committee

On behalf of the JuniorLeague of San Antonio, thank you for your support of this event!  And you better make plans now to join us in 2015!  My assistant chair has great things planned for next year’s show.  Trust me, you won’t want to miss it!

The TOP TEN Reasons Why YOU need to Attend OLE!

I hope everyone got to watch our very own Ole Chairs, Christina, Brett, and Libby on the SA Living Show this past Monday! They did a great job and made us all want to get our hands on some of those gumball hula hoops!


If you haven't bought your Ole tickets for this year, don't worry: it's not too late!


Visit http://www.holidayolemarket.com/ and buy yours today! You can share the link on Facebook and Twitter with all your friends and family as well and help get the word out!!  This year will mark the Junior League of San Antonio's 18th Annual Holiday Ole Market and it will be a "Shopping Entertainment Experience" you won't want to miss!

Melissa Rosson, Holiday Ole Market Internal Communications Chair, shared her "Top Ten Reasons to Go to Ole" this year! Thanks Melissa, for making Ole irresistible to members, family and friends!

Melissa's Top Ten Reasons to Attend Ole:

10.  It's a great way to get in the holiday spirit with unique gifts that you can't find anywhere else! Can you believe more than 90 merchants will be there? You could finish your whole Christmas shopping list in one day and you really can't beat that!

9.  If you're not there, you are definitely going to regret it when you see all your friends wearing new outfits and jewelry they bought. And, when you hear about all the fun they had at the Girls Night Out event or the Ready, Set, Shop breakfast, you're going to need some cheering up!

8.  Your husband or significant other and even your kiddos can come meet all of your JLSA friends and shop with you, all while supporting the JLSA!  This year we've added stroller shopping hours to make it more convenient for buys moms.

7.  You'll see so many unique decorations at Ole that you'll be filled with ideas and inspiration on decorating your own house for the holidays.

6.  Parties, parties, and more parties! And these tickets go FAST (so buy now!)!

5.  Great silent auction items, live auction items, AND a handbag auction....someone catch me! I'm feeling light headed! :)

4.  Delicious food from local vendors and yummy drinks.

3.  You can honor the heroes in your life with a ticket to the new Happy Hour for Heroes event! We live in a city with many servicemen and women, as well as heroes in our police and fire departments and in our local schools - why not treat the heroes in your life to a special day?

2.  Did I mention great food, shopping, and entertainment yet?

And the NUMBER ONE REASON you should attend the Junior League of San Antonio's Holiday Ole Market is...

1.  You get to contribute to the JLSA's largest fundraiser, which helps fund hours of community service and touch many lives throughout the year and throughout our great community that we call HOME!

Member Credits Explained

Member Credits Explained!

JLSA is pleased to offer members the flexible member credit program again this year.  Designed to offer league members with a variety of community and in-league experiences, there is something for everyone, including:

·         Holiday Ole Market shifts (October 19-22, 2011)

·         Met Opera shifts

·         Goodwill “Julia’s Attic” shifts (February, 25, 2012)

·         Sustainer Luncheon (September 13, 2011)

·         Volunteer Extraordinaire shifts

·         Prospective Member Information Night shifts

·         Fete du Cuvee (March 3, 2012)

·         Various training opportunities throughout the year

·         Select SA Works shifts

·         Kids in the Kitchen events

Membership credits are offered during the day and in the evening, during the week and on the weekends.  The number of credits a member must complete is determined by their number of years of service to the league. 

• Active Elite members (9+ years of service) need only complete one credit per year. 
• Active preferred members (6-9 years of service) need to complete two credits
• Actives (1-5 years) need to complete three credits
• New members need to complete two credits, which must be fulfilled through Holiday Ole

Years of service include the new member (provisional) year.  All active members, regardless of their years of service, are highly encouraged to complete at least one of the credits with Holiday Ole, to show support of our biggest fundraiser. 

Sign up for member credits will begin in August and there will be plenty for members to choose from throughout the year.  To sign up, go to the members only section of the web site and click on Member Credit Sign Up.  It is that easy!