Only Eight Weeks To Go…..

Imagine……only eight weeks to Christmas! WHAT!!!! Panic stricken! Is it that close already? Completely slipped my mind. Must get the finger out and organize the kid’s pressies. Will I make a Christmas pudding or will I just buy one? Are we going to theirs or are they all coming to ours? Turkey or Ham…….maybe both eh!

With the realisation that Christmas is indeed only eight weeks away, those will be just a small few of the thoughts running through peoples minds at the moment and leaving things to the last minute, like many do, isn’t the ideal way to go about enjoying the festive season. Without doubt, Christmas can be a very stressful time for some and for others it can be the most enjoyable time and highlight of their year. Many Exiles return home to spend time with their loved ones, meet old friends, enjoy a few pints of the black stuff, and generally catch up with all the goings on that Mammy has been writing to them about.

I guess it goes without saying that the towns publicans will be the busiest traders over the holiday season, followed no doubt by the butchers. It’s obviously great to know that bundles of cash will be spent in the town, but could it be an awful lot more?

Cobh & Harbour Chamber recently launched their ‘Shop Local’ campaign under the heading ‘Try Cobh First’. Basically locals are being asked to at least try the shops in Cobh for your festive seasons needs before heading away off to the City or other nearby towns in search of that all important bargain. Quite frankly, I believe it’s going to be a year to search for those ‘all important bargains’, especially with the state of our economy, and Cobh Chamber CEO Kathleen Geary brings us the good news that ‘Cobh Retailers have a wide variety of goods on offer at very competitive rates’.

Sixty Cobh retailers have joined the Chamber’s shop local campaign and have also contributed to a prize draw in excess of €2000 worth of vouchers which are to be divided into a number of prizes. Basically when a customer spends €5 or more in a participating outlet they are in with a chance to win!! The competition runs until Saturday December 18th when the draw will take place.

The way we see it is that Cobh has an outlet for almost everything you need for Christmas. Some of Cobh Edition’s advertisers can also be of service. For electrical and computing gifts try Carley’s. Try the Princess Rooms, Harbour Row, for that special dress and whilst out and about think about a bit of lunch in Gilberts, The Quays or the Crows Nest. All three venues also offer a Christmas Party facility, and to go with that contact DJ Dave on 0863393544 for your parties musical entertainment. If you’d love to have a party but find it too much trouble to organise then why not come along to Winter Ball on Friday 26th November in The Commodore Hotel @ 7.30pm, Cobh’s very own “Big Band” will be performing, a great night guaranteed! Tickets are €55 each, €5 of which will be donated to local charity. Special discounts available for group bookings.

Are you willing to ‘Try Cobh First’?

Retailers taking part in the ‘Try Cobh First’ are as follows:

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Also note that Santa arrives in Cobh by boat to Kennedy Pier at 12 noon on Saturday 4th December and you can later visit his Grotto at the Sirius Arts Centre from 12.30pm – 4.30pm at a cost of €5.00 which includes parcel. The ‘See You In Cobh’ initiative, ‘Christmas In Cobh’ also has a packed agenda of events to be released soon.