Christmas market for Women in Business offers food, fashion, fun

Dec. 14—Food, fashion and shopping entertained attendees at the Women in Business Christmas market and fashion, show Dec. 13 at The Legacy at MK Ranch.

Booths lined the ballroom and offered homemade soaps, massage services, chiropractic information and special sweet treats to the full house of ladies — and a few men — who attended. The event was sponsored by the Tahlequah Area Chamber of Commerce.

Food was supplied by Vidalia's Café and Catering, and offered up an appetizing array of foods, including sliders, moose shots and brownies.

Karen Wood with Karen's Confections is a real estate agent who started selling homemade baked goods on the side. She said real estate is still her main business, but the baking business is beginning to thrive. Complimentary charcuterie cups of treats were offered to people visiting her booth. Her table was laid out with a wide array of decorated baked goods.

"We've got peanut clusters, cake balls, candy cane cookies, snickerdoodles, and chocolate chip cookies," Wood said.

A new resident of Tahlequah, Nancy Henson, attended the event to start learning about her new city. As she eyed the goods on Wood's table, Henson spoke of how much she and her husband enjoy living in Tahlequah since arriving one week ago from California.

"My husband and I moved here to be closer to our son and his family," Henson said. "I was in California 72 years and now we are here."

Reba Hodgson manned a booth holding a large selection of Mary Kay products. When she saw the advertisement for the market, she called the Chamber to see about getting a booth. She and her husband, a nurse, moved from North Dakota two years ago because of the better weather in Oklahoma.

"The Chamber was wonderful to work with," Hodgson said. "They got back to me right away and were very inviting and they did a really good job [on the event]."

Kelly Callaway, of Countryside Wellness, had a wheel guests could spin for prizes.

"If you spin the wheel, you win a prize, and the other thing we do is, if you allow us to do a posture screening — which takes about two minutes — you are entered into a drawing," Callaway said. "Whoever wins the drawing, we are going to donate $50 to [a] charity [of their choice]."

Callaway serves on several boards in the community, including Tahlequah Main Street Association and Habitat for Humanity.

Mindy Baker, from the Cherokee Nation Department of Commerce, spun the wheel for a prize.

"I'm a big fan of the Chamber. I'm an ambassador and I like to support small businesses — and it's fun," Baker said. "It's a great evening to be out."

Taylor Craig sold homemade soaps at her booth Craig's Creative Soap Co. The business with soap-making began a couple of years ago, when her mother was injured and thought it would be a fun way to have a new hobby and get her mind off of things, Craig said.

"So we went with it, and now we have a full-fledged business in making soap. I make all handmade, all natural, vegan products," Craig said.

The fashion show featured clothing from Hey Girly Boutique, Le Filthy Pooche, Junie's Closet, The Mane Society, Pistol Gypsy Leather, Threadz Consignment and Wild and Free Beautiful Creations.

Kristy Eubanks, of Junie's Closet, emceed the fashion show, and despite a sound system malfunction still managed to make the show a success.

The owner of The Palms Massage and Wellness, Megan White, was promoting the Stone Brooke Project, a new partnership to provide oncology massage therapy services for cancer patients.

"I'm trying to get the word out about our massage therapy to Tahlequah area patients that are going through any treatment for cancer, male or female," White said.

White was at a previous Women in Business event and heard Edie Tolbert, along with Jennifer Edwards, talk about "business besties." Tolbert and Edwards do a podcast together and White began listening to it.

"Edie is the founder of the Stone Brooke Project, and when I started hearing about what she was doing with cancer patients, I wanted to be a partner with it," White said. "My mother, who started The Palms with me, died of cancer about [18 months] ago. So the project is close to my heart."

White signed the contract with Stone Brooke the day before the event, but she didn't want to miss the opportunity to get the word out at the Christmas market. White is in the beginning stages of talking to the hospital to work with patients in the infusion clinic.

"We start with our first client Jan. 15," White said. "Massages will depend on where they are at in their treatment — if they have ports, their pain level. We actually can go in and do chair massage for clients that are getting ready to do the radiation at the hospital."

Bailey Torres, owner of Squatchy's, started making homemade craft items while taking care of her disabled mother. Two years later, she has a storefront and sells local handmade goods like candles, soap, Stuffy Girl's crocheted animals and products from Pistol Gypsy Leather.

"I bring my mother to work with me," Torres said. "I had a lot of down time while taking care of my mother, and now we have a storefront."

Cami Highers, events specialist with TACC, said arranging the event was a lot of fun.

"It was a lot of fun to create a shopping [and] fashion event — just to have people come together to celebrate the holidays and have a good Christmas party and do some shopping while they are here," Highers said.