This Sunday, Lewiston’s Lisbon Street is the spot to get your sparkle on.
More than 30 artists and 10 businesses are teaming up for the first Sparkle Sunday, a last-minute shop-local event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Still have room on your gift list for fairy crowns, alpaca yarn, dresses, Christmas balls, ornaments, yoga jewelry and oil paintings?
They’ve got that.
Artists will have tables inside businesses along the street and some shops that aren’t typically open on Sundays, including Paul’s Clothing, Dube’s Flower and Dostie Jewelers, will be open.
“We’ve already scheduled it for next year — we’re being very optimistic. We’ve just had an incredible response,” said Tamera Grieshaber, one of the artists and organizers.
She credited Heidi Audet at Chill Yoga for the idea for the event.
“We needed to do something to bring back that spirit of the holidays on Lisbon Street,” Grieshaber said. “At least for a few hours this Sunday, we’ll see what we can get rolling.”
Meanwhile, also downtown …
Members of the national Main Street Alliance and the Maine Small Business Coalition have begun hanging signs in shop and restaurant windows that indirectly take on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s call to ban Muslims from coming into the country.
The signs read: “Hate has no business here. We stand with our Muslim community members. We stand with refugees and immigrants in our community.” “All are welcome here” also appears in several languages.
“Racist and xenophobic rhetoric has been on the rise in Maine and nationally over the preceding weeks, and our members did not want to stand silently by any longer,” said Will Ikard, director of the Maine Small Business Coalition.
Heather and Randy Letourneau, owners of She Doesn’t Like Guthries in Lewiston, were two of the business owners featured in a news release about the signs that went out Thursday.
“In a country founded by refugees and immigrants, it seems painfully un-American to discriminate against newly relocated peoples as they search for safety, opportunity and prosperity for themselves and their loved ones,” the couple are quoted as saying. “Our ancestors were once in this position and our good fortune is a result of their bravery and vision. Let us welcome those in need and help them begin anew. It is our heritage and so it is our duty.”
Meanwhile, across Maine …
Residential seller RE/MAX INTEGRA counted 1,252 Maine home sales as of November 2015 compared to 1,018 as of November 2014. That 22 percent year-over-year growth was the highest in New England, according to a spokesperson.
The average number of days on the market is down four days to 140 and and the median price is up just over $5,000 to $180,000 — a little something else to sparkle about.
Quick hits about business comings, goings and happenings. Have a Buzzable tip? Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at 689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com.
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