left to right: Mary Lou McAllister, Peggy Rogers

In a conversation with a woman working part-time in her home, Mary Lou McAllister discovered that some St. Michaels women who wanted and needed to work full-time could not because no day-care facility was available in town. That was in 1987. McAllister, along with Peggy Rogers and a small band of volunteers, decided to do something about it by establishing a fund-raising mechanism to start a day-care center.

They founded Christmas in St. Michaels, which in 2009 continues the tradition for the 23rd consecutive year. Their first weekend festival having raised $35,000, the founders entered into discussions with Easton Day-Care Center to manage a new site in St. Michaels. But a problem arose when they discovered that local ordinances would not allow such a center. So they approached St. Michaels Elementary School, just outside the town limits. The school had some unused portable structures available, and the day-care center first opened in 1989.

By then the second Christmas in St. Michaels was history, and seed money had grown to $70,000. Today, the recently renamed Critchlow Adkins Children's Centers — St. Michaels Site continues in the school complex, and hundreds of mothers have been able to work at full-time jobs because of it. Over the years more than 30 other local, non-profit groups have received grants ranging from $6,000 to almost $40,000 in a single year. Once again Critchlow Adkins Children's Centers — St. Michaels Site will be a principal beneficiary of this year's event, contributing to its effort to raise several hundred thousand dollars to significantly upgrade its facility within the newly renovated St. Michaels school complex.

With day care established, the Christmas in St. Michaels volunteers asked around the community to find other non-profit projects in need of funding. In subsequent years the event established and funded the St. Michaels Community Center. Contributions have helped put a new roof on Christ Church, support a major addition to the St. Michael branch of the Talbot County Free Library, helped fund installation of running water in the Chester Park neighborhood, plant a reading garden at the library site, contribute to building the Bay Hundred Community Pool and solidify its endowment. More than $800,000 has been raised and donated to local causes, and the enthusiasm continues.

Since 1987 the format for the festive weekend has been virtually unchanged. Celebration includes a parade, a gala benefit, Breakfast with Santa, a tour of historic homes, plenty of music and lots of food. In 2004 a collector's ornament was introduced and almost immediately sold out. The year 2009 marks the sixth in a series of the popular ornaments, each featuring an icon of Maryland's Eastern Shore: a lighthouse, a skipjack, a crab basket, a gaggle of geese, an oysterman, and a panoramic view of St. Michaels harbor. In 2007 a Gingerbread House Contest became the newest activity with children, families, and even award-winning chefs entering fantastic creations.

In cooperation with churches and business in St. Michaels, the celebration has become a regular destination for visitors during the second weekend in December, and it is not unusual to find families who have attended each year as a favorite part of their holiday tradition.

If you love the holidays—trees and lights, dolls and bells—you're sure to get your fill at the year's Christmas in St. Michaels: December 11-13, 2009.

Proceeds from Christmas in St. Michaels support community organizations. For 23 years this event has provided support to more than 30 local non-profit organizations and raised more than three-quarters of a million dollars.

2009 beneficiaries are:

• Character Counts, St. Michaels and Tilghman Elementary Schools
• Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
• Critchlow Adkins Children's Centers, St. Michaels Site
• St. Michaels Food Pantry
• St. Michaels Community Center
• Town of St. Michaels, restoration of Muskrat Park