The Travels of the Christmas Caravan
The pioneer women of St. Christopher’s were innovative, creative thinkers. They never encountered a problem that didn’t have a solution. The new organist knew how to play the piano, but not the organ. However, she assured the Rector, the Reverend Van Davis, she would be able to handle the job after taking a few lessons and subsequently played the organ for twenty-two years. When the church was founded in 1957, the women recognized the need for funds for choir robes, bathroom tile, curtains for the Rectory, grass on the lawn and other little necessities not included in the building budget. So they decided to have a fund raiser, but the problem was the lack of a Parish House and an Education Building where they could hold an event. They had already met the solution to the Sunday School Program by creating a “school on wheels.” They drove the children to Sunday School classes held in the cafeteria at Semmes School and in the homes of parishioners. Coffee Hour was held in the yet-to-be landscaped church yard.
Oral tradition says that Bobbie McDowell suggested the idea of decorating four homes for Christmas and inviting the general public to visit them on the first Friday in December. Visitors would “caravan” from one house to another. Thus, St. Christopher’s Christmas Caravan was born and Pensacola women have been going by caravan to visit homes decorated by St. Christopher’s ECW every December for over fifty years.
The church women also realized that the visitors would enjoy an opportunity to shop so there was a Santa’s Bakery in one home, and a Confectioner’s Shop in another home. Children’ gifts and plants were also available. The Caravan Tour concluded with a Tea in the last home. Vestry Meeting Minutes for January 1958 reflect that the first Caravan had raised a little over $1,000 for the completion of the sacristy. And, they did it without newspaper publicity!
The women knew they had created an event that was a winner and each year thereafter, they increased the appeal of the Christmas Caravan. In1964, they moved the Tea to the newly built Parish House. In1969, they replaced the Tea with a luncheon. Harriet Major’s hot chicken salad became a favorite menu item for many years. Attendance and profits continued to grow.
The Christmas Caravan has become a very popular and profitable Christmas season event that generates funds for various Pensacola charities. The $30,000.00 average annual income for the past three years has been donated to 38 local charities. That creative, energetic spirit of the early church members continues to inspire St. Christopher’s church members today.
Elizabeth D. Vickers
Oral tradition says that Bobbie McDowell suggested the idea of decorating four homes for Christmas and inviting the general public to visit them on the first Friday in December. Visitors would “caravan” from one house to another. Thus, St. Christopher’s Christmas Caravan was born and Pensacola women have been going by caravan to visit homes decorated by St. Christopher’s ECW every December for over fifty years.
The church women also realized that the visitors would enjoy an opportunity to shop so there was a Santa’s Bakery in one home, and a Confectioner’s Shop in another home. Children’ gifts and plants were also available. The Caravan Tour concluded with a Tea in the last home. Vestry Meeting Minutes for January 1958 reflect that the first Caravan had raised a little over $1,000 for the completion of the sacristy. And, they did it without newspaper publicity!
The women knew they had created an event that was a winner and each year thereafter, they increased the appeal of the Christmas Caravan. In1964, they moved the Tea to the newly built Parish House. In1969, they replaced the Tea with a luncheon. Harriet Major’s hot chicken salad became a favorite menu item for many years. Attendance and profits continued to grow.
The Christmas Caravan has become a very popular and profitable Christmas season event that generates funds for various Pensacola charities. The $30,000.00 average annual income for the past three years has been donated to 38 local charities. That creative, energetic spirit of the early church members continues to inspire St. Christopher’s church members today.
Elizabeth D. Vickers
