It makes sense that they wanted to keep this first-year experiment low key just to test the waters.

The hours of operation, vehicle parking, social-distancing, shopper movement, etc.

This is similar to restaurants which often hold a ‘soft opening’ where patrons are by invitation only (usually family and a couple friends of the employees) to be sure that what looks good on paper with staff and customers, actually works when the doors open.

Well, this little holiday market in Alberton worked very well, and the tweaking is already in the works for the 2021 Christmas season.

Molly and Michael Davidson, owners of Crescent Ridge Farm, and sisters Theresa Jones and Jessica Peeblson, who own Wild Light Homestead, joined forces and properties for vendors to set up and present their wares to holiday shoppers.

Between the two locations, about 15 merchants reserved space for the four Sundays between Thanksgiving and Christmas and had a wonderful time!

Both Wild Light and Crescent Ridge are on the Southside Road next to each other with unique covered venues. Michael Davidson is well known for fresh produce each Thursday at the Alberton Farmers Market during summer and fall. He built this ‘veggie-prep shed to clean and trim his produce before it goes to market.

“Home gardeners know how much work goes into getting their vegetables ready after they are pulled from the earth. It’s an awful lot of time, depending how large the harvest is. This being a commercial farm, we need to magnify that amount of time and effort so this building will become a small assembly line once we get rolling,” Davidson said.

It’s a brand-new, open-ended shop that housed Christmas wreaths, pine and fir centerpieces, yule logs with candles, sugar cookies, hand-crafted Ron Mason woodworks, shale rock serving trays, rock platform foundations with candles along with hand lotions from Hindu Hillbilly Honey and their beeswax lanterns.

A 35-foot diameter yurt welcomes visitors at Wild Light Homestead where you were treated to original oil paintings, wine bottle bags made from vintage tablecloths, tapestries and quilts, jewelry, hand designed oils, metal figurines and each facility was cozy-warm with fireplaces, Christmas music and hot chocolate for the kids.

“We just built this yurt in March and have plans for it as a holistic center and yoga facility down the road but thought we could put it to use for the community this way as so many are curious to see what it looks like on the inside”, said Peeblson.

By the time you read this, Christmas itself will be over for the year. You may already have taken down your tree and packed the ornaments, stockings and decorations up.

But remember this little market in Alberton when it comes to Montana-made gifts and a family focused atmosphere as this has the makings of a yuletide event you’ll want to never miss again.