Heather Ainsley
ECB Publishing, Inc.
On Saturday, Nov. 26, despite the dreary, wet weather, downtown Monticello came alive with shoppers and merchants in celebration of Small Business Saturday and Young Entrepreneur's Day! Young men and women set up festively decorated tables and displayed their hand-crafted, hand-painted or home-baked goods, hoping to make a little holiday cash.
Set up in the CowHaus parking lot were several booths, the first belonging to Liberty Paul and Maggie Smith. These two talented young ladies had handmade jewelry to offer to passing customers, including bracelets, necklaces and even beaded rings. Beside their booth was a booth belonging to Amanda Cable of Mini Moo Alpaca Too Farm. This booth was offering photo ops with live donkeys, horses and alpacas and also had merchandise like t-shirts for sale. Mini Moo 
Alpaca Too Farm specializes in farm stays, goat yoga, and showers, and they raise miniature Highland cows, alpacas and goats.
Included in this shopping opportunity was a large stack of neatly chopped firewood that was for sale by the bundle, courtesy of the Paul brothers, Tanner and Hunter, who collected and chopped the wood themselves.
Across the street, in front of the Soulshine boutique, were two young entrepreneurs who have learned a valuable way of using their friendship to make the most out of their business venture. Arianna Brown and Reagan Burrus exercise efficient cooperation with one another to make bracelets and beaded necklaces. When one of them is hard at work making necklaces, the other knows her time is best spent working on bracelets. They also specialize in custom handmade jewelry.
Following the walkway of boutiques and shops led to little Georgia Kimbrel's booth, where she was selling her handmade satsuma jelly, and giving away tasty samples to customers as they passed by. Next to her booth was the table of 
Amrys Bishop, who was selling a variety of baked goods that she made with the help of her mother. She offered sourdough loafs, meringues, pecans, chocolate bombs and chocolate bark in three separate flavor choices: peppermint, turtle and s'mores.
Right on the corner was the booth of Hayes Bishop, who has quite the talent for weaving plant hangers. Every hanger sale also came with a vibrant and healthy pothos plant to fit into the hanger. In addition to his hangers, he also offered some leather bands and bracelets for sale.
A quick walk down Dogwood Street led to the table of AJ Camper, who was selling a variety of baked goods with the hopes of earning enough money to save up for her upcoming dance competition fees. The young business woman offered cookies, cupcakes and other baked goods. Beside her was the booth of Avery Thompson, who was selling large, vibrant lemons fresh off the tree and her own handmade ornaments and garlands. Beside these booths was the booth of Elizabeth Parker, who was set up with her dad, Adam, and selling her homemade cookie recipe jars. Her recipes included M&M cookies, chocolate chip, white chocolate and pecan.
Across the street was Alaina Smith, who was selling her gourmet flavored popcorn. Her table featured flavors like sweet and salty, cinnamon spice, caramel and snickerdoodle. She also was selling festive holiday-themed cupcakes and brownies.
In front of Vintage Treasures were two jovial little business ladies dressed to the nines with holiday cheer. Ava Halpin and Rylan Rabon were a dynamic duo, calling themselves the Jingle Girls, and selling a variety of hand-crafted goodies, including ornaments, gift tags, festive bird seed shapes, air plant decorations and hot chocolate spoons.
In front of Oh Happy Days boutique, the Davis brothers were grabbing the attention of locals with their bright signs, advertising their wares. Brothers Hunter, Sawyer and Trip sold hand-shelled pecans from a tree at their house and fresh, ripe satsumas that they had hand-picked just the day before. Now that's fresh!
Last but certainly not least in the circle of young business folk were young Lydia and Alistair Canup, who were selling unscented shea butter soaps that they had 
molded into fun and cute shapes. Alistair has named their soap business, “20,000 Soaps Under the Sink.” Kudos on an excellent business name!
This event was a great start to the holiday shopping season, and was a wonderful opportunity for young business men and women to try their luck selling their products. Everyone had a great time, and it was a fantastic start to this year’s holiday shopping season. To make something unique and desirable takes skill. To go out into the world and market it takes a whole different kind of skill. It also takes patience and no small amount of bravery. To all the young men and women out there who braved the drizzle and wind to take a shot at running their own small businesses for a day, you each did a fantastic job! Don't stop now!