What a community we have here in Ballard!

We are relative new comers here. My husband and I moved our young family to this amazing neighborhood nine years ago and began working to open our bakery on Market St.

We chose Ballard for its tight knit feeling community, great schools and blue-collar foundation; a small town in the city. What we could never have expected, but received over these past years is friendship, support and generosity from Ballard and it's fiercely loyal residents and merchants.

Please let me tell you a story I reflect on each year around Christmas time.

About three years ago early in December, upon unpacking the "Holiday Decorations Boxes," I discovered that the box which held all our Christmas tree decorations was missing. I searched my home high and low and the box was nowhere to be found. Mind you, this was all the heirloom and handmade tree ornaments. Stuff we had both been given from grandparents and made by hand as children, the really priceless and irreplaceable ornaments.

These were the ornaments you tell the story of and reminisce about as you hand it to your own child to hang... Well, as you can imagine, my family was just heart broken at this loss. (I can only figure I must have put the box out with the trash after the holidays. Really, once it's packed, it looks like any other box of paper!)

I shared my sorrows at this loss of both my husband and my own family treasures to my friend Beth Miller. I am sure many of you know Beth as the face of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce.

Beth sent word out unbeknownst to me to the Chamber membership explaining what had happened. And during the busiest time of the year for retailers, Ballard made magic! So many people gave so generously of their time and stories.

We received at least 100 holiday ornaments from friends and neighbors in Ballard. Some were brand new ornaments. Some were handmade. Some were even heirloom family ornaments from other people's grandparents. Many of these ornaments had their personal ornament life stories attached in a note and some notes just said, "we are sorry for your loss, have a new one on us!"

What an incredible gift to be shown such love by your community. What had started out so sadly, completely turned around. That holiday season, we really knew in our hearts that Ballard is a community like no other.

So now we have a new Carlson family tradition at the holidays, and that is to remember who gave us that lobster ornament and who gave us that crystal bell ornament from Norway; that year when mom threw out our holiday ornaments!

And for that my family gives a heartfelt and very long overdue public "Thank you!" to our friendly community in Ballard.

And for all our new residents and friends, welcome and congratulations, you have chosen an amazing neighborhood to be a part of.

Thank you for letting us share and may 2007 be your best year yet!

The Carlson Family

2218 NW Market St.