By Jon Mayhew DENVER – About 100 people got their real first taste of Christmas Sunday during an open house at Lake Norman Flowers and Gifts on N.C. 16 in Denver. Christmas decorations including ornaments – even fully decorated Christmas trees for sale – adorned the shop across from Westport Baptist Church. Co-owners Bill Walker and Chris Brooks said the Christmas holiday open house has been a tradition since he bought the shop 15 years ago.
“Back then, we only had about three weeks to prepare for the first open house, so we decorated and sold pine cones for a dollar each,” said Walker. “We didn’t realize what a great response we got and the open house grew from there.” Besides enjoying a variety of Christmas cookies and other goodies, customers had the opportunity to register for door prizes. See LAKE NORMAN | 2 Walker said preparations for the holiday open house start in September when the trees are brought into the shop.
Decorating the trees take place through October with the final preparations put into place the first of November. Around daylight savings time, Walker said the decorations are lit up, attracting a lot of attention in the community. “It looks just like our little version of Mcadenville,” said Walker. For more information on Lake Norman Flowers and Gifts, call 704-483-3466. Lake Norman Flowers and Gifts are open 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Saturday.
They are closed on Sunday.