"In the Beginning"

    Now that I have relived our  amazing trip to Sanibel Island in the first five blogs, it is time to come back to the present so that I can do what I set out to do with this blog originally....talk about  the Chesapeake Bay Christmas Company and all of the folks who have been a part of it for the past 16 years! That's right 16 years...just typing it was surreal because it does not seem possible that it was that long ago that Shawnette and I started building this little business that has become part of our hearts and souls.We have been growing Chesapeake Bay Christmas Company little by little year by year.

    In the beginning...we started this business based on my love for painting and giving of handmade gifts, combined with a love for the area ( New Kent, Va) in which we live...between the gentle  rivers the Chickahominy and the Pamunkey which in turn feed the majestic rivers the James and the York which flow into our country's most noteworthy bay "The Chesapeake". Our love of this place and the resources it provides were the beginnings of the niche we would start to carve out for ourselves in the gift industry.

     I had grown up in Virginia but had spent 17 years of my life moving around this great country with my husband Van as he climbed the corporate ladder of Reynolds Aluminum Recycling Co. We moved back to Virginia ( New Kent) in 1990 with two young children and our third on the way. Our first son Matt was born in California,  our second son Jake in Oklahoma and  #3 Joshua would be my  fellow Virginian. It was the desire to stay at home with my children that fueled the need and the desire to create a business that would contribute to our household and allow me to be at home when our children were small.

     I met Shawnette soon after the kids entered school. She also is the mother of three sons (our first thing in common!) We were both moms who were  involved with our kids at school so we became PTO moms and room mothers and everything else that that entailed. We also were part of a play group that  got our younger children together once a week for some major roughhousing and playtime. This play group was an amazing source of friendship and creativity and support that we all provided to each other. It was during this time that I started to paint on local oyster shells mostly to entertain myself and to give to family and friends as gifts. I then started to attend some local craft shows with what I considered moderate success. My self esteem was growing so I made  an amazing first step as a business woman. I ventured into our local Cardinal Drug  Store  and made my first sales call!  Success!...I actually sold 25 hand painted oyster Santas... and that was the fire that ignited the creation of  The Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co.!!.           

Stay tuned history continues in next blog