Ever wondered how you could make your holiday shopping meaningful? Join us as we chat with the chair of Tyler Junior League’s annual Mistletoe & Magic event, a festive fiesta that intertwines the joy of shopping with the spirit of giving. This four-day shopping spree is decked with novel surprises for all ages.
But the Mistletoe & Magic event isn’t just about shopping. It’s a testament to community spirit, supporting 13 different agencies. So, come along and discover how you can transform your holiday shopping into helping others.
MIKE LANDESS: What if you could do one-stop Christmas shopping in Tyler and, in the process, help out 13 nonprofit agencies and programs in our area? That’s part of the magic of the Tyler Junior League’s annual Mistletoe & Magic event. I’m Mike Landess for UT Tyler Radio. This is the 45th year for that event, and the chairperson is a veteran member of the League. We welcome Alyssa Allare.
ALYSSA ALLARE: Hi-thank you for having me.
LANDESS: I appreciate you being here. Forty-five years for this four-day holiday shopping event and, for the first time, it’s being held at the new W.T. Brookshire Event Center.
ALLARE: That’s right. We’re so excited about it.
LANDESS: Does that mean that there is going to be more real estate to use?
ALLARE: Exactly. We will have even more merchants than ever before.
LANDESS: All right. Now, for those who have not been to the Brookshire venue, we know that it’s beautiful and spacious. This event starts Nov. 29. What will visitors find this year?
ALLARE: Sure, so Nov. 29, we are opening the doors, bringing back a classic, our Preview Party. The Preview Party is our grand opening, if you will. We will kick off the events that Wednesday night, and then we have got events lined up through Saturday. There’s something for everybody. We’ve got private shopping mornings. We have a fabulous brunch that will be catered. Children’s event is on Saturday. We’ve got breakfast with Santa, professional pictures with Santa, children’s arts and crafts, milk and cookies-all kinds of things.
LANDESS: Sounds like a lot of fun. Tell us about the vendors who are involved in this. What kinds of things for people who haven’t been there? What will they see?
ALLARE: So there’s something for everybody. We’ve got different food, shopping, women’s clothing, men’s gifts, Christmas décor — there’s literally something for everybody.
LANDESS: I read that there were antiques, even — I mean you’re covering a wide variety.
ALLARE: We’ve got all sorts of things.
LANDESS: Now, where do these vendors come from?
ALLARE: All over, so we’ve got some who are local to our Tyler area and then others who come out of state for this event.
LANDESS: And this is a big draw because, obviously, it’s a real opportunity for people to be able to do, as I said earlier, one-stop shopping.
ALLARE: Exactly.
LANDESS: Well now, Mistletoe & Magic is in the 45th year. The Junior League is in its 65th year. What other kinds of things are the Junior League members involved with?
ALLARE: So we support several community partners within the Smith County area. So not only do we do all of this fundraising to help support them monetarily, but also we provide volunteers and volunteer hours for them.
LANDESS: Tell us a little bit about the agencies that you work with or will benefit from the efforts that you put into Mistletoe & Magic.
ALLARE: Sure. So, like you mentioned before, we’ve got 13 partners this year. Just a few of those are Meals on Wheels, the Children’s Advocacy Center, Habitat for Humanity, and we’ve got some of our own. So, like our “Girl Power” event and our “Care Closet,” which we provide toiletries to middle school girls in the area.
LANDESS: Having been involved for a while, tell us a story about an event or a group that you’ve worked with that really made a memorable moment in your life.
ALLARE: OK. Annually, we help the Children’s Advocacy Center wrap and provide Christmas gifts for their children and families, so that’s a really fun event. We help select the gifts, wrap the gifts and then hand them out at their party.
LANDESS: Oh, that’s nice.
ALLARE: Yeah, it’s a blast.
LANDESS: OK, any other elements that are involved in this? For someone listening to this conversation, I’m wondering if you would tell them how you got interested in the Junior League.
ALLARE: So actually, my mother and mother-in-law were both Junior League of Tyler members, so I have fond memories growing up attending some of these events, even Mistletoe & Magic, when I was little. My husband and I moved back to Tyler after growing up here, and so it just seems like a natural fit to jump in and start helping out in the community.
LANDESS: How did you end up coming back?
ALLARE: My husband’s family owns a business here. So he came back to work with the family.
LANDESS: Nice. Now this is an interesting time coming out of COVID. I mean, we still talk about the hangover from COVID. Those were rough years.
ALLARE: They were.
LANDESS: Mistletoe & Magic didn’t get to operate during COVID.
ALLARE: No, it was awful. We, you know, our planning had gotten underway. We ended up having to cancel the event, and luckily, so many of our gracious sponsors and donors allowed us to keep that money, so that we could continue to fund these agencies because they count on us.
LANDESS: And the shopping. I keep saying one-stop shopping. That is really — 65 vendors spread out across the W.T. Brookshire Center. That has got to be quite a sight by the time this is all put together.
ALLARE: Yeah, we’ll see how it goes this year (laughter).
LANDESS: Oh, probably fantastic. Now I asked you about being interested in the Junior League. For someone listening to this conversation who thinks maybe they’d like to be part of the Junior League, what all is involved in that?
ALLARE: Anyone can be involved in the Junior League of Tyler. We help get our members to areas that they’re interested in. So, whether that be certain partners that they are interested in volunteering with, or if they’re interested in fundraising to help us support these agencies, there’s a job for everybody in the League.
LANDESS: And the Junior League in Tyler is 65 years old and obviously has been involved in seeing, you know, so many different things that have taken place in this community. Other than Mistletoe & Magic, what are your other major events through the year?
ALLARE: We also have a “Girl Power “event that’s coming up here in January, so it empowers middle school-aged girls. Yeah, it’s a really fabulous event um, helping them to feel strong and confident. We also just started an initiative called the “Care Closet,” where we supply elementary and middle schools within the area, nurses’ offices — toiletries, things that they need, that they might not be provided, or teachers might be funding out of their own pockets. So we try to help bridge that gap.
LANDESS: Tell me a little bit about future plans for the Junior League in Tyler. What kinds of things are you guys bandying about as the thing, projects you’d like to take on?
ALLARE: So there is always foresight, looking for something new that we can fund. We funded things in the past like the Tyler Museum of Art, Hospice of East Texas. Those are things that the Junior League got started. So, with a big anniversary coming up, we actually are beginning planning, hoping that we can, you know, come up with something new that we’re missing in our community.
LANDESS: Well, talk about that big anniversary. What kinds of things do you think you’ll do to celebrate that?
ALLARE: We actually have a planning committee that’s getting started here in January. So we’ll, you know, begin tossing around ideas, seeing what our areas of needs are and what we can come up with.
LANDESS: Any final thoughts to share about the Mistletoe & Magic event and what it means to the community?
ALLARE: This event has a special place in my heart and I know so many others. Um, I think it’s a great way to have fun and also support our community. Um, I hope to see so many people there this year. I think it’s going to be a really great time, with some fun new changes.
LANDESS: Our guest has been Alyssa Allare, chairperson of the Junior League’s annual Mistletoe & Magic holiday shopping event. To hear this conversation again or to share it, go to KVUT.org. I’m Mike Landess for UT Tyler Radio.
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