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Glass Balls
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Seashells and Slate
Reminder - Get FREE SHIPPING year-round
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ISLAND UPDATE | |
The month of May opened with our 1st cruise ship of the season, the Costa Atlantica. A beautiful, warm Spring day greeted the passengers as they disembarked for a day long visit to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. The passengers came from all over the world: Canada, Australia, England, Italy, Spain and France, to name a few. Many of them spoke little English, but they all appreciated the wonders of a Christmas Shop open in May! In most of their native countries, shops such as ours don't open until right before Christmas. We did very little talking, communicating with a lot of pointing and hand gestures. Thanks to all the pictures and examples around the store, they seemed to get the idea of personalizing ornaments for friends and family. Once they saw their names on ornaments, they were excited to select gifts for friends and family back home.
Beehive Hike as Viewed from the Trail Below Photo by Beverly Bono The best part about this hike is that there are 2 ways to get to the top: the challenging path that uses ladders or the less strenuous way that gradually winds a path to the top. Hikers make the decision about which way to go at the marker pictured above. Either way, when you reach the top, the view out over Sand Beach is spectacular! This couple was capturing the achievement of climbing the ladder trail. |
Cruise Ship, Costa Atlantica, Anchored in Frenchman's Bay Photo by Glenn Cooper The weather has been ideal for hiking. It is cool enough that a brisk hike warms you to just the right temperature. Although the most challenging hike on the Island, the "Precipice", is closed to protect the nests of young Peregrine Falcons, the 2nd most challenging hike, the "Beehive", is open! It is called the "Beehive" because of the shape as viewed from the trail. 
Reaching the Top of the Beehive Photo by Beverly Bono |
CHRISTMAS SPIRIT®'S SAMANTHA | |
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Recently, we had a nice visit from our extended family and Samantha insisted on playing one of her all-time favorite games- "Pickle in the Middle". Despite her hind legs not functioning at 100%, she insisted on racing back and forth between pitcher and batter, trying to retrieve her ball. Occasionally, she'd beat us to a fly ball.
Periodically, she'd lie down and try to rest, but the retriever instinct was too strong! Needless to say, at the end of the day, both participants were exhausted, but still fast friends. Samantha has a special place in her heart for kids. |
Samantha "Retrieving" Her Ball Photo by Beverly Bono |
Samantha Sleeping in One of Her Favorite Spots Photo by Beverly Bono |
WEBSITE NEWS YOU CAN USENew Page Layouts | |
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We are constantly striving to improve our Website. In the last Newsletter we introduced the new SORT feature on the index pages. At the same time, we made another subtle change to the index pages that one of our users noticed. She said:
"Something looks different and for the better. Are the items larger, closer together? A page seems to have more to see; you can more easily compare the ornaments." She wasn't sure exactly WHAT we had done, but she knew it was an improvement. 
Screen Shot of "NEW" Layout |
Screen Shot of "OLD" Layout Actually what we did was standardize the picture sizes on the index pages, which let us display more on a page (5 across, instead of 3). The benefit to our customers is that more ornaments are displayed at one time, enabling easier comparisons between the styles on the page. At the same time, the standardization enabled faster loading of images. We’d love to hear your observations or suggestions about our Website, so Contact Us with your feedback. |
CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS | |
| "Just got my ornament in the mail...I LOVE IT!!!! Every detail from the design to personalization to careful packaging was perfect. Thank you for a wonderful experience. I will be back again next year to purchase my annual ornaments. I'm glad to learn I can email to see if you carry specific types of ornaments." Sherri from VA. | "Thank you and Merry Christmas to all of you. I got the 4 ornaments I ordered today. They are wonderful! I definately will be ordering from you again!" Sharon from MN. |
| "Hello, Just a note to say that I received the WONDERFUL ornaments that you shipped. Each one is more beautiful than I had imagined. Glad I thought to order these from you!" Patricia from VA. | |
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80 Main Street Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 1-800-242-2913 |
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