18 museums bringing wares to shop around

handout Museum Shop Around at Aullwood will feature this Four Seasons Art Glass Table for $200.

By Meredith Moss, Staff Writer 4:53 PM Thursday, November 12, 2009

It’s one of the most pleasant shopping experiences in the Miami Valley. Before or after selecting holidays gifts for Aunt Mary or little Johnny, you can enjoy bird watching or take a quiet stroll in the woods.

The Holiday Shop Around at Aullwood Audubon Center, in its eighth year, has become a popular tradition. This year’s event is slated for Saturday, Nov. 14, and will showcase gifts from 18 area museum and nonprofit shops.

Aullwood gift shop manager Wendy Jacoby saved the rest of us travel time by contacting all of the museum gift shops in our area and inviting them to bring their favorite wares to Aullwood. In addition to a selection that you won’t find elsewhere, your purchases will help support our community.

“The Shop Around has grown, with over 1,500 shoppers selecting special gifts for their loved ones,” says Jacoby. “This is a way to give twice. Shoppers are supporting their favorite local nonprofit organization and giving a unique gift.”

New shops this year are Dayton Visual Arts Center, Humane Society of Greater Dayton and The Lincoln Society of Dayton.

Each store brings items that reflect its mission such as the Dayton Art Institute’s glass crystal trees ($15.95 to $34), and the Boonshoft Museum’s rocks and fossils ($2.59 to $75)).

“Each of the museums brings unique items that truly cannot be found in other local stores,” says Angela Shaffer, manager of the Boonshoft Museum’s Discovery Shop.

As the Boonshoft is a natural history museum, science center, children’s museum, observatory and zoo, featured items range from the popular animal socks to a celestial globe that portrays Earth by day and the constellations by night.”

Artwork by area artists will come from DVAC’s ARTtoBUY Holiday Gift Gallery.

Other returning groups include Dayton History at Carillon Park, Centerville-Washington Twp. Historical Society, Darke County Historical Society, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Park, Dayton International Peace Museum, Friends of the Dayton Arcade, Garst Museum, Glen Helen Ecology Institute, Randolph Twp. Historical Society, SunWatch Indian Village and Wegerzyn Gardens Foundation Gift and Garden Shop.

Homemade soups and sandwiches will be sold.

GO!

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