Holiday Family Wagon Rides are offered at Meadowbrook Antiques Nov. 30-Dec. 1. (Photo submitted)
WESTFIELD – Tim and Susan Crane, owners of Meadowbrook Antiques at 658 Montgomery Road will host their 4th annual Holiday Family Wagon Rides Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year, all donations and 10% of sales will be donated to the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
The theme this year will be ‘Twas the night before Christmas, featuring Albert the Mouse. The wagon, homemade by Tim Crane, can fit 30, and is pulled by an old tractor through a meadow and over a little bridge. In addition, there will be a video for children, a crafts table (each child can make and decorate an Albert the Mouse mask) and a story walk. The first 60 families may also pick one winter or holiday-themed book, purchased by the Cranes for the event.
Susan and Tim Crane, owners of Meadowbrook Antiques, 658 Montgomery Rd., Westfield. (Photo submitted)
Susan Crane said the shop will be decorated for the holidays, and offers a welcoming atmosphere as families enter. There will be brownies, cookies, clementines, warm cider, hot cocoa, coffee and tea for everyone inside, the wood-burning stove will be warm and high school volunteers will be reading books to children. She said a seventh grader who participated in the first three wagon rides told her parents that this year she wants to volunteer.
The store, which features pieces from the late 1800’s, along with dishware, lamps, and old tools, will be open and run by volunteers, with 10 percent of sales along with all donations going to the MS Society.
Susan Crane said the first three years of the wagon ride they donated the proceeds to Our House, a home for unaccompanied youth. Then last year, a family member was diagnosed with MS, and they thought this would be a good opportunity to raise funds and awareness for the disease.
“We want to make this educational as well,” she said. Both retired, Susan Crane is a former social worker, and Tim Crane, a former math teacher at Gateway Regional. The Cranes are also hoping to initiate a support group for people with MS and their families in Westfield in 2020.
The wagon ride, the story walk, and the craft take about an hour to navigate and participate in. There are plenty of warm drinks and goodies for everyone to enjoy, they said.
