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Shoppers Crowd Local Malls For Last-Minute Christmas Shopping
By Jo Ann La Russo
Last minute shoppers crowded the stores this week.
And they came prepared for business.
“I did all my shopping in one day,” said Donna Eccles, Seaside Park, at the Ocean County mall, toting boxes and bags of gift items for her family. “I just made two trips to the house to empty the truck,” she said wearily. “I should be ready for Christmas.”
“Everybody is stressed out,” said Ruth of
Toms River at a rest stop near the food court. “I have 14 people, mostly teenagers, to buy for. I’m getting CD’s and DVD’s.”
The rush is on to fill your holiday wish list and cashier lines are long.
“We’re very busy,” said cashier Jane
Thompson of Toms River at J.C. Penney’s. “Shoppers are buying a lot of winter clothing and gift certificates.”
Laurina Luccia, working the jewelry department at Penney’s, said, “Gentlemen are coming in and buying watches, gold bracelets and hoop earrings as gifts. Diamonds, too.”
A Funtown Amusement Pier ticket book would make a good stocking stuffer, said Milen, working a table in the mall that offered summertime ride specials at the boardwalk in Seaside Heights.
Vilma and Charles Kraemer of Barnegat sat with their many purchases around them. “This is the last trip out,” said Mr. Kraemer.
“We have four grandchildren and we still need to get a gift for my mother and daughter,” added Mrs. Kraemer.
The big item in the Kraemer household
this year is a new computer, the couple said. “That was our early gift this year,” they said.
Joann Jager of Point Pleasant hurriedly carried two huge bags from the Disney store through the mall saying, “All this is for my littlest grandchild, Heather Roselle, who is a New Year’s baby. She will be 4 on December 31.”
Jager said she found a Sirius radio for her favorite son-in-law, Nick, “who’s an angel.” And she has lots of gifts for her other grandkids.
But Jager said that the dearest gift that she will give this year is reserved for her mom, Lenore, who lives in Massachusetts.
“I had a locket made with a picture of my mom and dad that was taken in 1940 when he was in the U.S. Army. Dad is in his uniform. The picture was taken shortly before he died,” she said. “I know that my mother will treasure it.”
Holiday merriment in the mall did lots to cheer everyone up and give them that last boost of energy needed to finish their shopping lists.
John, of Toms River, looked exhausted as he sat in a large easy chair inside the mall. He was waiting while his wife shopped, “Buying something for me,” he said. And what, in return, did he buy his wife for her holiday present?
“Something expensive,” he sighed.
Shopping not only tires a person out, said Mike at the Philly Cheese Steak stand in the food court, where the line seemed never ending. It makes them hungry.
“People are hungry,” he said. Mike’s list of high end gifts includes a pair of Ugz boots for
mom, a Coach bag for his sister, and an iPod for
his step dad. What does he want for Christmas? “Santa will bring me a surprise,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
Holiday gifts are ready for the giving. The search for the right gift and the adventure of finding it is over. Brightly wrapped presents sit under your tree adorned with pretty silver or gold bows. Shiny wrapping paper reflects all the effort that brought you to this place in time.
It is a time to rejoice. A time to rest. Or so it seems, until you hear that first holler early Christmas morning, “Santa was here,” and the tearing of that beautiful wrapping paper.
And remember, when your holiday meal is over, you will have one week to plan your terrific New Year’s Eve extravaganza.
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