It’s become a local holiday tradition: Shoppers come to The Christmas Shop in downtown Crawfordsville to stock up on bargain-priced yuletide décor.
The money is distributed to families in need in time for Christmas thanks to longtime antique store owner Marcheta Dixon, who died last month and never liked the spotlight for the project.
“My mom was a very selfless person,” said Dixon’s son, Jeff. “She wasn’t interested in the recognition because her heart was about taking care of people who were less fortunate than her — that had a need.”
Dixon’s family has decided this Christmas will be the last for the shop at 122 W. Main St. Doors will open Nov. 2 with volunteers on hand until Dec. 12.
Donations are now being accepted outside the shop and financial contributions can be mailed to the Christmas Shop’s address with checks made payable to La Rose on Main.
When she first opened the shop around the mid-2000s, Dixon was looking for a charitable way to clear out the vast inventory of Christmas decorations she had collected from estate sales and auctions.
As word spread, members of the community donated so many items that Dixon’s collection sat untouched, although volunteers running the shop eventually had to tap in to some of the trove.
In 2016, the local Philanthropic Educational Organization agreed to take on the shop as a chapter project. Over the next few years, additional volunteers signed up. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, PEO will not participate this year.
For member Kim Nixon, volunteering brought back memories of serving customers at Steck’s and Weathervane, her family’s longtime downtown stores.
“And I really and truly hope that there are people out there that feel as strongly about it as I do and are able to… keep that shop going this year because there is a need,” Nixon said. “There’s definitely a need probably more this year than there has been for a long time just because of the crazy virus and what it’s done.”
Other parts of Dixon’s collection are headed for a museum. Before her death, Dixon asked for her sports memorabilia, historical Crawfordsville and Montgomery County items, signs and books written by Hoosier authors to be donated to the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County.
