From all of us here at Vermont Woods Studios Fine Furniture, we send our very best wishes for a Happy Holiday season to you and your family.
Thanks for making 2011 our best year ever!
Front row from left: Rebecca, Peggy, Manjula, Shannon
Back row from left: Douglas, Ken, Dennis
At last, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer ran the segment on our "Made in America" Holiday Shopping Challenge yesterday. YAY! Here is the link to view it online. We'd like to thank ABC producers Christine Brozyna and Eric Noll for coming to Vernon to film the segment. Theirs' is not an easy job.
When Christine and Eric came to Vermont last month it was because they had read a blog about our "Made in America" project way back in September. They were impressed that such a small company would take on a project about creating American jobs and they wanted to put the size and strength of ABC behind it.
Well, a lot of time has passed since then and I'm sure that as each new idea came into the newsroom, our story morphed depending on the context of the day. There were a couple times we were considered for inclusion in earlier segments but for whatever reason they fell through. In the end we were pretty disappointed to see that our segment really wasn't about the jobs or the furniture being created by small independent companies like Vermont Woods Studios or Woodruff Custom Furniture.
Instead we got spun into a segment on American schools. Go figure. But it was indeed an educational experience, learning how news stories get created (I'll be much more wary now, about believing what I see in the news). We're trying to just be grateful for the fact that ABC has been able to raise awareness (much more than we ever could) all across the country about the jobs that can be created by buying American made holiday gifts.
It was way back in September that Dennis challenged all of us at Vermont Woods Studios Fine Furniture to help support our economy by promising to buy American Made gifts for Christmas. A lot of ups and downs have happened since then with our Made in America Holiday Shopping Challenge.
But regardless of all that, we had a mission in the office and that was to learn more about American companies and the things they make--and to support them with our Christmas shopping budgets. And to see if we could start a movement where others would do the same. Thanks to ABC that has happened.
So our office Christmas party was yesterday and fortunately it was a Yankee Swap (because it's possible that some of us are on the naughty list). Anyway we all gave gifts that were made in America:
A bottle of Kendall Jackson California wine, a Harley Davidson beer mug, a handcarved wooden letter opener (Ken picked that one out, of course), a Cangles bracelet made out of recycled soda cans, a handmade glass ornament, a paperwhite bulb, Vermont made goat's milk caramels (yum!), a Vermont made silk scarf and a cool necklace that has a hidden pen in it.
If you haven't had your holiday office party yet, it's not too late! See if your colleagues will go for an American made theme. Then let us know what you bought either in the comments section below or on our facebook.
All across the USA people are talking about giving Christmas Gifts that are "Made in America" and-- we're beginning to see some pretty impressive results in the form of job creation.
Well, here's another way do something great with your holiday shopping. How about donating to local food pantries and shelters in honor of the people on your Christmas list? Instead of scrambling around trying to figure out what on earth to get all those people who already have everything, why not honor them by helping someone who's hungry or cold?
Give the gift of hope to those who have lost hope. How many parents who were in a position just like you and me very recently-- have no job today?
In our area we have many local organizations in need of donations, including the Reformer Christmas Stocking, Feed the Thousands and The Vermont Food Bank, in addition to local churches that each have a program to give hope and help. This year the need is more critical than ever.
What's interesting is that when given a choice, all of the people I polled said they would rather have this kind of donation given in their name than receive another pair of gloves for Christmas. I bet your friends would say the same. What do you think?
The "Made in America" Holiday Shopping Challenge we started way back in September at Vermont Woods Studios Furniture is in full swing now. ABC News has jumped on board and done an amazing job of raising awareness about how much we as consumers can do to provide jobs in our communities, just by "buying American".
Their favorite statistic is that the average American spends $700 on Christmas gifts each year and if only $64 of that was used for American made gifts, we could create 200,000 jobs. So the question in, "Are you IN?"
We've been finding a lot of great American made stuff in our own back yards at local shops, craft fairs and farmer's markets. But since a lot of things on your list won't be available locally, we've got some great American gift ideas for you on our Facebook like:
* For the kids-- American Flyer Sleds
* For Mom-- Colorful bud vases from Fiestaware
* For Dad-- Rugged tool sets from Channellock
* For Aunt Clara-- Handwoven baskets by Longaberger Basket
* For the art lover-- Creative gifts from $10- $5000 at The Art of Making a Difference
Have other ideas or American made gift suggestions? Post them on our American Made Christmas Shopping Facebook Event. We ARE making a difference. Jobs are starting to come back. What was is that Margaret Mead once said... something about "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
Everyone has been asking me to keep them posted about when the Vernon, Vermont segment of ABC's Made in America Christmas Shopping Challenge is going to air. I just spoke to Christine Brozyna, the producer from ABC World News. Vernon's segment is tentatively planned for next Monday or Tuesday, Dec 12 or 13. If they can't fit it in then, Christine said they'll probably push it back-- to the following Mon or Tues, Dec 19 or 20. No promises on the schedule though.
If you live in Vernon and want additional information, check our Vermont Furniture Facebook. We hope to see you on TV! Keep you fingers crossed for Monday or Tuesday.
Buying American Made Christmas gifts is important for our economy, but buying locally made items is even better. Here's a really fun and easy way to do it: Brattleboro's Cotton Mill Open Studio and Holiday Sale! Here you can meet local artists who make blown glass, wooden crafts, ceramics, furniture, garden sculpture, jewelry, books, jams, candles and more all under one roof. Plus check out activities like dance, circus, painting, music, film and of course FOOD.
This once-a-year celebration features the work of many artists and artisans and promises something of interest for all ages! Meet the artisans in their studios as you find beautifully handcrafted gifts for the holiday season and enjoy live music, entertainment and demonstrations. Stay all day… food is available! Admission and parking are free.
I am really sorry if, like us, you were watching ABC World News with Diane Sawyer last night for a segment on our Made in America Christmas Shopping Challenge. We weren't there :(
After the show I guess I received about- oh a hundred or so phone calls, emails, tweets and Facebook posts from our friends, relatives, customers and neighbors asking what went wrong. I sent a panicked email off to ABC's producer, Christine Brozyna and she was nice enough to respond immediately saying that time constraints prevented our segment from being aired on schedule. I guess this is not unusual as the news is never predictable. Anyway, Christine assured me that our segment is still in the works and will be aired in the near future. She will let me know when that is and I'll post it here and on our facebook.
In the meantime I want to thank everyone for watching and for their interest in our project. What amazes me most about this is how far a little town like Vernon reaches out into the world (remember the six degrees of separation theory). People from all over Vermont and the Northeast were watching and waiting to see their friends and relatives from Vernon. Jane and Larry Brown had the whole island of St John watching too. Manjula's family and friends in India were watching. Ken and I got texts from all across the country- even from people we haven't spoken to in years who were watching and I'm sure the same goes for everyone else who was in the segment. With all that goodwill on our side, I can't help but be confident that the segment will indeed air soon and shine a light on the little community that started this whole Made in America Christmas Shopping Challenge, made famous by ABC.
UPDATE as of 7PM, Nov 30
I am really sorry if, like us, you were watching for a segment on our Made in America Christmas Challenge tonight. We weren't there :( I just asked the producer what happened and she explained that time constraints prevented our segment from being aired on schedule. I guess this is not unusual as the news is never predictable. Anyway, Christine assured me that our segment is still in the works and will be aired in the near future. She will let me know when that is and I'll post it here and on our facebook.
Don't forget to tune in (or set your DVR) to ABC World News with Diane Sawyer at 6:30pm EST TONIGHT to see our crazy Christmas Shopping Challenge in patriotic Vernon, Vermont. All your favorite American-made shopping stalwarts will be featured from the Town Hall, the Firestation, the Vernon elementary school, the Portside Tavern, Malhana Farm and Vermont Woods Studios Furniture (home of 100% American made, wood furniture).
Check out what the Brattleboro Reformer had to say about us and watch the previews on ABC.
Here's the premsie: Americans will spend, on average $700 per person on Christmas and holiday gifts this year. If we allocated just $64 of that to American made gifts, we would generate 200,000 jobs, nation-wide. So the question is: Are you IN?
If you're IN, then get counted by joining us at our Made in America Holiday Shopping virtual Facebook event (it's just a mouse click-- you don't have to actually show up anywhere). Thanks for joining us and be sure to share (on our Facebook) any cool things you find in your shopping adventures!
We're celebrating our Made in America Holiday Shopping Challenge success with a store-wide 15% Off Fine Furniture Sale. This has been such an exciting week for us, with the ABC World News crew spotlighting our efforts to get friends and relatives to "buy American" this Christmas shopping season. Manjula and Dennis decided to share our revelry with a big sale-- it's store-wide from tomorrow until December 13.
Don't forget to watch us (or set your DVR) tomorrow night on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer and then join with all of us who are promising to buy at least some American made gifts this Christmas-- and be sure to get counted on Facebook!
As a company that sells exclusively American made furniture (Vermont-made, actually) we're psyched to get this level of traction behind our push to create more American jobs. As consumers, we have the power and what better time than Christmas (when we're each spending an average of $700 on gifts) to excercise that power!
That's you! Let's be honest. If you're reading this, you can probably count yourself among the "ones who have everything" right? And your friends and family are in that group too. OK, I'm not trying to be a big grinch and stomp down on all our Cyber Weekend shopping fun. I'm just suggesting that some of the frenzy whipped up over these unbelievable deals is a bit contrived-- maybe you and those on your List don't really need or want an extra flat screen TV anyway.
So what to buy that would have some meaning?
Here's a short list of my Top 4 Favorite Christmas and Holiday Gifts:
The best part is that there's no Black Friday or Cyber Monday RUSH on buying these items. But... you could take a big load off your shoulders and get everything done today. Then you could relax and enjoy the rest of the Christmas season in peace-- what a concept!
Once again we'd like to say thanks to one of our favorite Vermont fine furniture makers: Chad Woodruff of Woodruff Custom Furniture in Vernon, Vermont. Chad was kind enough to join us on Tuesday when ABC World News came to town. He and his quintessential Vermont workshop (located in an historic, old red barn) were featured in a film segment for the Made in America Shopping Challenge. I can't wait to see that part of the video because Chad speaks about his craft so beautifully and powerfully-- straight from the heart.
Chad specializes in building Arts & Crafts style pieces, inspired by craftsmen like Stickley, Roycroft, and Limbert. Each piece Chad crafts has a simple beauty and an honest solid construction. His furniture is made by hand from rough board to fine finish.
Quartersawn White Oak is the wood of choice for most of Chad's customers although he is happy to customize his furniture to meet your specific needs and preferences. He offers 4 stain choices: a classic mission finish with a medium brown stain with strong orange and golden highlights, a light mission stain, a dark mission stain and a fumed oak finish.
Chad's quality is impeccable, his customers are raving fans and we are very proud to be able to represent him at Vermont Woods Studios Furniture. Check out some of Chad's Mission, Arts and Crafts and Stickley Style Furniture on our website or give us a call to learn more about his work and how to bring it into your home.
It was only a couple days ago that Shannon ran into my office with a look of total disbelief on her face, saying that someone named Christine Brozyna, a producer from ABC World News with Diane Sawyer would like to talk to us about our Made in America Holiday Shopping Challenge.
Wow! I thought WE worked hard at Vermont Wood Studios. In 5 days these people read all about us on the Internet, liked our company and our drive, dreamed up a segment about us for their national news show, gathered up a camera crew, drove up to Vernon VT and spent the whole day today filming our story. It was a whilrwind and I'm not quite sure if I've been dreaming myself, but I have to say today was pretty exciting, either way.
Many thanks go out to all our friends in Vernon who came out to support us and be a part of the segment. Here's how it went down:
Thanks also to the local media who came out to capture the event. I love this behind the scenes video posted by Zach Stephens at The Brattleboro Reformer.
I hope you get to see all of this on Wednesday when it airs on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer at 6:30pm. Everywhere we went today, the producers set up the scene so we were telling people about our Made in America Holiday Shopping Challenge and asking them to join us. We honestly had no earthly idea how this was going to play out and we're so grateful to everyone for supporting us in our ignorance.
I can't image how they're going to boil 10 hours of filming down to 3 minutes but I trust that the genius of Christine and Eric Noll (the other producer) will prevail and everything will come out just fine. That's Christine and Eric above with Tom and Mark, the camera crew. They had us getting our picture taken holding the Made in America sign all day, so we wanted to turn the tables on them and get a photo of them holding a sign of our choice-- a promotional sign for Woodruff Custom Furniture.
If you made it to this page, and even to the bottom of this page-- we're sending out a big THANK you to all of you from ABC. We look forward to seeing you again, closer to Christmas. Come and check out all our American Made finds!
Dear Readers,
Thank you so much for attending our Made in America Holiday Shopping Challenge! Today (I think it's because of your support) we got a phone call from ABC World News telling us they are sending a camera crew up to Vernon, Vermont on Tuesday to film some footage for their November 30 nightly news show.
They want to learn more about our pledge to buy American made holiday gifts at Vermont Woods Studios Fine Furniture and also tour around the town of Vernon. They'll visit all the BIG attractions in town: the elementary school, the town hall, the general store, the fire station, a farm or two and Chad Woodruff's custom furniture workshop. What could be more cool for the evening news than that? They'll be interviewing people along the way and asking them about any plans they might have to "buy American" this holiday season.
So we're pretty excited about this and we're grateful to you for all your support, as always. By the way, what are you buying for Christmas this year? If you haven't taken the challenge yet, it's not too late. We figured that if everybody in the country bought everything "American made" over the holidays, it could generate almost 5 million jobs! Who needs politicians, right?
For local Vernon and Brattleboro area residents-- if you'd like to be on TV or just see the camera crew in action, you can keep up with their schedule as it evolves by joining this Facebook group or checking our website. Here's a clip of a similar segment in the ABC series. People in the crowd scene at the Vernon Town Hall will all have a chance to be interviewed and present visuals to feature on the national show.
By Dennis Shanoff
Earlier this year I wrote a blog which I hoped would inspire a “Buy American Made Products” movement but with a new twist. I thought that the upcoming holiday season would be the perfect time to raise awareness that there still are some great American Made products.
After all this is the time of year when shopping is going full force. So if there ever was power in numbers this would be the time to really make a difference!
I began my research into American Made Products that would make good holiday gifts and I was both surprised and pleased to find that this was not as difficult as I first envisioned. Certainly at some point most of us have commented on the overwhelmingly high percentage of imported products we see on our stores shelves. And how product quality has diminished as well.
I realize that there is some perception that US made product is just too expensive but when you factor in its quality and lasting power over “cheap” imports it actually may prove to be a bargain! Buy it right, and buy it once I say.
I was also very pleased to find that most of the companies I had discovered were started in America long ago, understood offshore production savings or felt economic pressure to manufacture offshore, but firmly resisted this based on a core belief of contributing to the US economy and an unwillingness to diminish quality. Those companies I commend, and those companies’ products I will purchase! They are indeed out there and they deserve our business.
It has been both a fun and enlightening project and I was quite surprised and happy to find good old American made products that my family and friends could use and enjoy. And as a matter of fact I book marked a few dozen websites for things for myself in the process! So Santa, if you are reading this….
Below are some American Made gift ideas I found during my first pass I would like to share with you and I plan on updating this blog post throughout the holiday season.
So I hope I have inspired you to consider this holiday gift theme for your family and friends gatherings, office party, secret Santa, or Yankee Swaps. And please feel free to share your findings or events by joining our Facebook event. We look forward to hearing from you and we wish you a Happy Holiday season!
Reprinted with permission from a letter by Rita Settle to the editor of the Orlando Sentinel
My friend Deana clipped this letter out of the Orlando Sentinel and sent it to me after reading about our American Made Holiday Gift Challenge. We thank Rita Settle for her creative holiday gift suggestions.
As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods -- merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is!
It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?
You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine. THIS is the new American Christmas tradition.
