ULTIMATE HOLIDAY SEASON GIFTS

Something different this time. As you may know, the Rutland Herald has several associated publications, among them the Rutland Business Journal, for which I also write. Recently, I got three articles in too late for the publication schedule, so they won't run with the upcoming holiday special. But I want the businesses I talked with to get some exposure, with the permission of my editors, I'm publishing the three pieces on this blog. SHOP LOCAL!

ULTIMATE HOLIDAY SEASON GIFTS

Kids generally know what they want for Christmas, to judge by published letters to Santa. Adults, on the other hand, can have trouble saying straight out what they are wishing for, or have difficulty in imagining something that the intended recipient definitely doesn’t have.
One way out is to go ultimate, over the top, off the charts. It isn’t possible for everyone every year, but by putting aside a little bit for a while, all sorts of eye-popping, heart-melting gifts can become realities.
What follows are some very diverse examples of unusually memorable gifts. Covering more possibilities usually meant talking to just one business about a particular type of gift. But remember, it’s competition that makes things better for the consumer, and usually you can find more than one source for making comparisons—which we recommend because this is not a consumer’s guide “best-of” report.
The unforgettable gift nearly everyone thinks of is jewelry, so for suggestions we went to Freeman Marcus Jewelers, just as a lot of people have in the store’s 117 years. Owner Ron Marcus (23 years) was not available, but Kelsey Woodell (18 years) was.
First, about the gems that one Broadway song claimed were a girl’s best friend: remember than purity of color is a big part of a diamond’s price. Make concessions there and it may be possible to get something larger.
Second, Woodell said, they have one of Vermont’s few sources of estate jewelry. Ever wonder what happens when none of the grandchildren, who happened to be all grandsons, want Grandma’s ring? “A lot of these pieces are one of a kind,” he observed.
The birthstone for December 25 is blue zircon, Woodell said—or, recently, tanzanite, found only around Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The latter comes in several shades, according to www.tanzanitegallery.com (which has pictures) and according to the site administrator might be a good investment because the supply is limited and might even run out.
Speaking of jewelry and investments, Woodell said “Gold is right now almost at a 30-year high.” One reason according to Smart Money magazine (Wall Street Journal) is that people are stashing it away in case of major currency failures.
Platinum? “More expensive than gold,” said Woodell. Gee, maybe diamonds are a girl’s best friend.
But there’s another choice, at least at Freeman: a Rolex watch. They’re official dealers for Rolex, Woodell said, and there aren’t many in the state.
Don’t worry about one of these keeping good time, he said: they get corrected via a signal from a remote source (atomic clocks are now used instead of astronomical for keeping exact time, according to information about Greenwich Mean Time). Rolexes are very customizable, he said, so “you can get pretty much anything you want.”
There’s even a dive feature, Woodell said. Maybe a good idea if you’re into scuba, so you don’t get too involved in an underwater wreck and become one yourself.
Speaking of which, how about giving your mate (and you, if you have the urge) a Caribbean dive vacation? No problem, said the local representative of one of Vermont’s travel agencies, who didn’t want to be named because the person wasn’t the company’s official spokesman.
On such a trip, you can get instruction, get certification, and rent equipment, as well as being taken where there’s colorful underwater life. There are two good reasons for using a travel agent, Agent 009-to-5 said: agencies actually know cheaper ways of going that you’re likely to encounter on Internet sites; and probably someone in the company has actually been there and done that, so the agency knows you won’t get any nasty surprises like, say, going during the season when stinging jellyfish abound.
If you don’t want to go abroad, there’s an exciting travel opportunity awaiting in Clarendon: get your significant someone (or both of you, or the two of you and a kid or friend, since this is a three-for-one deal) an hour seeing Vermont from a small plane.
At Columbia Air Services, based at the Southern Vermont Regional Airport/Rutland State Airport (which is actually in Clarendon), Brian Pinsonault said they take people up “all year round, weather permitting.” They use a single-engine Piper Warrior, which is capable of carrying four people, if that load doesn’t exceed the weight recommendation.
Pinsonault said that by law, they can only fly within a 25 mile radius of the airport. But that will pretty much cover Rutland County, giving a good look at the lakes region and the mountains.
Flights are priced in one-tenth hour increments, with one hour costing $79, he said. The cost can be divided among several passengers, rather than being multiplied if more take part, he said.
“Terra firma,” said one airline passenger after a rough cross-country flight. “The more firma, the less terra.” If that’s how you feel about being in the air, how about a limousine ride instead?
If that appeals, you are fortunate to have several limo services around, especially if you have a certain kind of vehicle in mind. There’s quite a bit of stretch in the term “limousine,” which encompasses specialized vans, sedans, and at Ice House, according to their ad, the “area’s only stretch SUV.”
The car with five windows may be impressive to look at, but may be awkward to park. At Black Tie Limousine in Proctor, owner Steve Abraham said he likes six-passenger vans, and less affluent customers like college kids like them because six can share the cost).
But these aren’t soccer mom family vans. They come equipped for comfort and socializing, with a TV, a VCR, and a bar. “Please don’t drink and drive,” says his Yellow Pages ad—but on board the limo, you can drink and ride.
The cost “really depends,” he said, but is usually $60-65 an hour. For a group, this can compare very favorable with air travel, he said.
Places Abraham has gone: Burlington lots of times, Albany, New York City, Maine, Montreal—“anywhere, basically.” A personal favorite fantasy: taking my sweetie by limo to Hemingway’s Restaurant up past Killington on Route 4, a destination dining experience that gets the highest ratings possible and which delights in truly personalized service.
“Dining is typically what they want to do,” Abraham said.
Just two more suggestions, both of which are keyed to Rutland County’s “creative economy” concept: arts and crafts. All year long, fabulously talented people go trekking into far reaches that only their imaginations can access, coming back, like the safari trophy hunters of old, with things rare and wonderful—and around Christmas, they need to sell some to keep going on those expeditions.
To take one example of classic Vermont craft work, the area boasts many makers of exquisite furniture, the kind that will survive to become the future’s antiques. Check the galleries, like the artisans’ outlet on Center Street in Rutland, or check out lesser-known people like “The Duke of Burl” in Pittsford, or venture to a Vermont State Craft Center in Middlebury or Manchester, or ask around.
“There is so much fraud in the construction and pricing of furniture these days,” said a service article I saved from a publication I happened to pick up across the line in New York State. Phony “list prices,” veneer instead of real wood, no service if something goes wrong with it, “some assembly required” that turns out to be about as much fun as the assemblies that were required in high school…
When it comes to furniture, Buy American and Buy Local make particular sense. Solid furniture is heavy and doesn’t ship cheaply, and every time you sit in or lie down on something whose maker you know or meet, your body will say “Ahhh. Always buy for quality.”
Artists are in just as much economic difficulty or more, and just as dependent on holiday sales. If nothing else, a trip to the Chaffee Center or the Paramount gallery in Rutland or the Brandon Artists Guild or the Carving Studio gallery in West Rutland, etc. will be a relief from the jingle and jangle of commercial assaults on the cents-us.

Comments

[brendan]

I've got an ultimate holiday gift for you. Check out www.catchapieceofmaine.com. You can own your own lobster trap and recieve all the lobster caught from your trap for the entire year. I thought you would appreciate this, since it is totally different and rememberable.

[Deborah Frankel Reese]

Thanks for the plug for local artists. I hope you can catch the Holiday Show at the Chaffee, up until January 6.