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Roni nodded emphatically. “Exactly my point. That’s what I’m talking about. I think if we want to raise as much money at the Caroling Kickoff as we usually do, we’re going to have to find a way to draw in the crowds. Our events need to be spruced up. No longer can we get by with the same old cookie booths. We need more.”
“We need bigger and better,” Melanie added, tapping her pencil on her notepad.
“Brighter and louder,” Candy agreed.
Nicole bounced in her seat. “We need Christmas on overdrive.”
“But how?” Jenni asked. “We already do so much. Where are we going to find the time? Or the money?”
Melanie patted her arm. “Don’t get discouraged. That’s why we called this meeting. We need ideas. Fresh ideas.”
Brianna, who ran a wedding B&B business, walked in at that moment. “Whoa, what did I miss?”
Melanie handed her a flyer as she took a seat. “Okay, ladies. Start throwing ideas out there. How can we entice people back downtown?”
“Gingerbread house competition?” Nicole said.
Roni frowned. “Old school.”
“Axe throwing,” Candy offered.
Roni looked at her with eyebrows raised.
Candy’s smile was wide. “What? It’s fun. It’s new. It’s different.”
“Kid-friendly events,” Roni responded.
“Live music,” Jenni said, sucking down her latte.
“They’re already doing that,” Roni muttered, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t too.
“A bake off,” Candy said.
“A Christmas party,” Melanie added.
“I know,” Brianna said, getting into the swing of things. “An arts and crafts night. We can have an event where people can get their pictures taken with Santa in the park and then come here to decorate their frames to put their pictures in.”
“That’s a good idea,” Nicole said. “But what if they don’t want their picture with Santa?”
Brianna shrugged. “Then they could just decorate the frame.”
Roni picked up a pen and drew a star on Melanie’s notebook next to that one. “I like it.”
“We could have a small animal adoption night here at the coffee shop,” Jenni suggested.
Roni nodded. “Okay, I like that too.”
“What about a Christmas cookie baking and decorating class for moms and daughters,” Candy suggested.
“Or friends. I love it,” Jenni said. “I know all the teachers down at the elementary school would love it too.”
“Do you miss working there?” Brianna asked her. Jenni had lost her teaching job last year when she’d missed too many days rescuing her animals. But she took it in stride and now ran her rescue full-time.
Jenni shook her head. “A little, but it’s so rewarding when I find the perfect home for my rescues.”
“Like Spooky,” Roni said with a big grin.
“Like Spooky,” Jenni agreed. “There weren’t too many homes that would have been perfect for his highness.”
