Area residents can hit the road this Saturday – the Downtown
Bradford Business District Authority’s third seasonal Country Roads
Holiday Tour, that is – and enjoy special activities at many area
businesses.

DBBDA board member and event organizer Mary Jane Hand told The
Era Tuesday the Country Roads Holiday Tour was held for the first
time last autumn, again this spring, making the tour set for 9 a.m.
to 10 p.m. Saturday the third run for the event.

“It’s not a contest, but a way to get exposure for some of the
little shops in our area,” Hand explained.

Many Bradford shops and restaurants are participating, as well
as some in Derrick City, Custer City, Smethport, Mount Alton, Mount
Jewett, Duke Center, Port Allegany and Limestone, N.Y.

Each location has a sign, Hand said, and each participant has
paid a small fee for an advertisement in a related brochure
produced by the DBBDA, which also features a map of the county with
the stops highlighted. In the brochure, there is a small write-up
about each location, as well.

Each of the 25 or so participants are running sales, having
demonstrations or offering free samples or taste treats during the
tour. Many are offering discounts on their fall merchandise, though
sales and special activities vary from place to place, Hand
said.

The brochures also feature coupons for $1 of any $10 purchase at
any of the participating stores, Hand added.

Hopefully, the tour will encourage residents to “drive around
and stop to notice what is here in our area,” she said.

So far, participating businesses in Bradford include the Main
Street Mercantile, Mayer Brauser, GiGi’s Fashion Boutique,
Blueberry Hill Country and Keeping Ewe in Stitches, Tin Ceiling
Gift Shoppe and Movie Magic, Abbasso at the Downbeat, Congress
Street Antiques, Beefeaters Man’s World, Graham Florist, The
Christmas Shoppe, Our World, the Zippo/Case Visitors Center and
Julie’s Potting Shed. In Derrick City, Country Roads Holiday
tourists can stop by the Coffee Mill Antiques or Times Past. The
Yarn Barn and Gift Shop at Corwin’s Corners and South Kendall
Avenue is also participating. Singer’s Country Corners in Custer
City and the Runway Cafe at the Bradford Regional Airport in Mount
Alton are on the tour, as well as Kaffe Sol and My Sister’s Place
in Mount Jewett, The Country Porch & Gourmet Coffee Shoppe in
Smethport and The Inn on Maple Street Bed and Breakfast in Port
Allegany. Country at Home in Duke Center and Discovery Antiques in
Limestone are also participating.

For more information, contact Diane DeWalt at the Main Street
Mercantile.