Local business says thank you to locals

Judy McPhee has been making her famous drop shortbread to hand out at Moonlight Madness since the event started back in 1993.

Owner of Mountain Air, McPhee uses an old family recipe that was passed down from her mother-in-law. She has always had a love for Christmas cookies, saying she used to make “tonnes and tonnes” with her two children.

McPhee estimates she makes about 12 dozen shortbread cookies each year and this year will be no exception.

She sees Moonlight Madness as a way for businesses to say thank you to the town. “You know this town is all about tourists and everything. You have to line up at the grocery stores, and everything is so busy you know. So Moonlight Madness was our way of saying thank you to the locals. Come in and have a cookie,” McPhee said.

And, it’s not just cookies, but coffee too with husband Doug, who always takes part in the festivities. 

McPhee’s tales of Moonlight Madness in its earlier years talk of the six to midnight time frame until stores started to slowly open earlier offering sale prices at noon to attract the locals.

There’s excitement in the air as McPhee talks about her experiences at Moonlight Madness. “They put the lights up and all the stores are decorated. It is much more exciting at night to go around. And, even if the snow isn’t falling it looks like it is because everybody’s got the lights all over,” she said.