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TOGETHER TOGETH ER 10 new Batavia Boardwalk Shops offer exciting variety of handcrafted, local goods By Chris Walker | Photos provided by April Duda Photography
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for attendees.
hile preparing to host a holiday party for her book club, Meli Bernas racked her brain trying to come up with gifts
Little did she know at the time, but the gifts were already resting on the bookshelf.
Where We Live
“I created these little trees that I made out of book pages,” Bernas says. “I had some left over that I sold on the neighborhood Facebook page, and it took off from there.”
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Now, it’s just four years later and Bernas has turned those successful handmade Christmas gift creations into her own business. She brings new life to old stories at her Pretty Pages shop, where she upcycles pages from books to create exclusive home decor and gifts that you won’t find anywhere else. “If you are a book nerd, I’m your person,” she says. “One of the most popular listings is whatever book is really special to them and making a wreath from it. I get people who bring sheet music from
their wedding. I get to do very cool custom work and one of my favorite things about doing this is getting to do new things.” Pretty Pages is one of the 10 new 2021 Batavia Boardwalk Shops that will be open through Dec. 19, 2021. With their own personal tales of how they’ve become business owners to the wares that they are selling, the mix offers an ultracool shopping experience, especially to those looking to interact with and support small local businesses. “The eight tiny businesses that opened up last year in May helped to attract more visitors to our community and around town to shop our already existing small retail, restaurant and service businesses,” says Jamie Saam, Boardwalk Shops manager. “We are optimistic that this year will be a huge success yet again with some amazing new businesses including floral shops, home decor, a vegan bakery, artists and more.” This second year of the Boardwalk comes on the heels of a tremendously successful first year — six of the first eight
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SUMMER 2021
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