"You don't even have to get out of your car!" That line comes from the Big Canoe Chapel Women's Fellowship, and it describes the part of Christmas Corner most people never see. Every tree, wreath, and Santa sold in December starts out in a Big Canoe closet. It arrives at the Chapel's lower parking lot on a Monday morning in November, handed through a car window between 10 a.m. and noon.
The Women's Fellowship doesn't buy any stock. The December sale holds only what neighbors give it in November, and the 2026 sale has more selling time than any recent year. Those Monday mornings now supply a bigger event.
Five Mondays Stock the Whole Sale
The Chapel's Christmas Corner collections page asks for "once-loved Christmas trees, wreaths, garlands, tree decorations, Santas, snowmen, reindeer, angels, and everything Christmas." Drop-offs happen each Monday in November in the Chapel's lower parking lot at 226 Wolfscratch Village Circle, from 10 a.m. to noon.
November 2026 has five Mondays. That gives you five drop-off windows:
- Monday, November 2
- Monday, November 9
- Monday, November 16
- Monday, November 23, the Monday of Thanksgiving week
- Monday, November 30
Each window is two hours, so collection runs ten hours across the whole month. The schedule matches last year's. In 2025, Smoke Signals reported the same Monday drop-offs in the same lower lot, also 10 a.m. to noon, also without leaving your car.
What changed for 2026 is how long the sale runs once all those donations are sorted.
The Sale Got Longer, and It Got a Second Night
The Women's Fellowship calls Christmas Corner its last fundraiser of 2026 and says it is "back but with a new twist." There are two changes. The Saturday sale on December 5 runs on what the Chapel calls extended hours, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. And for the first time there's a Friday evening event, Christmas Corner: 'Twas the Night Before, from 7 to 9 p.m. on December 4.
Here's how this year compares with the last two:
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sale date | Saturday, Dec. 7 | Saturday, Dec. 6 | Friday, Dec. 4 preview and Saturday, Dec. 5 sale |
| Saturday hours | Opened 8:30 a.m., paused for the POA Town Hall, resumed until 1 p.m. | 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., closed during the POA Town Hall | 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Evening event | None listed | None listed | 7 to 9 p.m., $10 ticket |
| Location | McCormick Hall | Cousins Hall | Big Canoe Chapel |
Add it up. Last year's Saturday ran four and a half hours from open to close, and the sale shut down for part of that while the POA Town Hall met. This year the Saturday sale alone runs six hours, and the Friday preview adds two more. That makes about eight hours of selling in 2026, against well under four and a half in 2025. The 2026 listing doesn't mention a Town Hall break.
More hours to sell means more room for inventory. Because of the Friday preview, a box dropped off on November 30 could be on a table a few days later and sold before Saturday morning.
What the Friday Preview Includes
'Twas the Night Before is set up as an early shopping night. It includes a preview of the merchandise, the chance to buy before the Saturday crowd, refreshments, music, and a door prize drawing every 15 minutes. Tickets are $10. They go on sale November 15 at women.bigcanoechapel.org and stay available through December 4, and you can also buy them at the door Friday night.
The ticket is the only fee on the Christmas Corner calendar. Donating is free, and so is shopping on Saturday.
The Same Two Months Carry Three Other Fundraisers
Christmas Corner is the Women's Fellowship's last fundraiser of 2026, and other projects run through the same weeks and the same Chapel building. Several of them connect to the December 5 sale.
Casseroles to Go. Online ordering opens October 29, the day this post goes up, and closes November 15. Preorders are picked up on Sunday, November 15, during Stand Around and after the second Chapel service in Cousins Hall. There are six choices this year, $25 each:
- Oven Baked Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya
- Chicken Spectacular
- Beef & Ricotta Stuffed Shells
- Chicken & Stuffing Casserole
- Crustless Quiche, gluten-free
- Sausage & Cheese English Muffins
In 2025 the casseroles were $20, and the ordering window ran October 30 through November 13. Beef & Ricotta Stuffed Shells is back from last year's menu. If you miss November 15, there's a second sale at Christmas Corner on Saturday, December 5. That makes the décor sale the place to restock your freezer, too. Questions about casseroles go to Sue Merrick, the coordinator listed on the Chapel's Casseroles to Go page.
Last year, by the Fellowship's own account in Smoke Signals, every Casseroles to Go dish sold out.
Gifts for Pruitt Nursing Home. This one is another November collection, separate from the Monday drop-offs. Through November, the Women's Fellowship gathers new, unwrapped gifts for residents of Pruitt Nursing Home in Jasper, to hand out at the home's annual Christmas celebration. Suggested items include sweaters, socks, slippers, hygiene kits, and other personal items. The collection box sits outside the Chapel Office from November 2 through November 29. Keep the two collections apart. Gently used décor goes to the lower lot on Mondays, and new, unwrapped gifts go in the box by the Chapel Office.
Beads & Beyond, Crafting Your Sparkle. This Women's Fellowship workshop meets Thursday, November 12, from 1 to 3 p.m. in Cousins Hall. It costs $20, which covers materials for a fairy wand and a butterfly stake. Registration is open through November 5.
Sunday, November 15, stacks several things into one day. Casserole pickup happens that morning, Christmas Corner preview tickets go on sale online, and from 4 to 6 p.m. the Chapel hosts Music in the Mountains with the Jared Cooper String Trio. The concert is open to everyone and runs on donations. Three days later, on Wednesday, November 18, the Chapel's Wednesday Night Dinner in Cousins Hall serves Turketti, salad, rolls, and dessert for $10 from 5 to 7 p.m., with the Wellness Collaborative as featured speaker.
Where a Donated Wreath Ends Up
The Chapel's Christmas Corner page says proceeds help local charities for women and children. The Women's Fellowship describes a charitable-giving tradition that supports more than 30 local charities with that focus, and it welcomes women from Big Canoe and nearby communities to take part.
The Chapel's list of charities supported from 2011 through 2024 shows where that money has gone over the years, and several names on it are tied to Pickens and Dawson counties. Past recipients include:
- CASA and the Hall-Dawson CASA Program
- Ruth House, Cheryl's Place, Hope House, and ABBA House
- Pickens Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy and R.E.A.D. of Dawson County
- Dawson County Wee Books
- Boys & Girls Club of North Georgia
- Good Samaritan Health and Wellness Center
- The Pregnancy Center and the Weekend Snack Program
- Pickens County 4-H, Young Life, and Youth Enrichment
- The Big Canoe Chapel Blanket Ministry, Christmas Blessings Program, and Scholarship Program
The Fellowship's outreach also involves hands-on work. Its members hold monthly birthday celebrations and holiday events for residents of PruittHealth Nursing Home in Jasper and volunteer at the Community Thrift Store, so the Pruitt gift box connects to a relationship that lasts all year.
A garland that hung on a Big Canoe mantel last December can go through a car window on a November Monday, sell on December 4 or 5, and help fund local groups like CASA and Ruth House.
If you're sorting through holiday boxes this fall, whether you're simplifying, downsizing, or getting a home ready for its next owner, the Chapel lower lot opens for Christmas Corner drop-offs at 10 a.m. on Monday, November 2. When the boxes are gone and you're ready to talk about what comes next for the house, Steve Yambor lives here too and is glad to help you plan it at whatever pace suits you. Let's Connect.
