When Eric Mander retired in 2000 after 40 years at Chevron Oil, his wife and kids were curious about how he’d fill his days.

A love of woodworking provided an answer — open a gift shop where he could turn his love of crafting into a business.

“When my dad was getting ready to retire, we were concerned whether he would know what to do with himself,” said Mander’s daughter, EHS head volleyball coach Tera Lawlar. “He was always very handy when it came to woodworking — he always had a little woodshop in his garage. We decided to open up a little gift shop called A Walk in the Woods for him when he retired, and that was the store just to the left of the rock shop. We had fun with that, and when the [Front Street] location became available a few years later, we moved his gift shop into there.”

Mander operated A Walk in the Woods for five years, creating rustic collectibles out of materials he would find at old ranches and homesteads.

“He’s always looking for old barn wood — people will call him and say, ‘Hey, I have an old fence, if you want it,’” Lawlar said. “So he’ll go out and meticulously take it down, and take out all the nails and screws, doing what he can to save that wood.”

Eventually, Mander was ready to transition to the next phase of his retirement, and he closed up shop. His daughters decided they wouldn’t retire A Walk in the Woods completely, however, bringing it back for a weekend once a year around the holidays.

“After so long, you can only cut out so many wooden moose and trees, so he was ready to call it good,” Lawlar explained. “That building became a couple of other gift shops, and A Dang Good BBQ. During that time, my sister Tamra [Petersen] and I started doing Santa’s Workshop six or seven years ago, and we always had a good time with that.”

The sisters and their families enjoyed taking part in Santa’s Workshop so much over the years that they began to float the idea of a pop-up shop, one they could keep open beyond a weekend.

“We talked about the potential of having a pop-up shop, just because it was a lot of work, a lot of merchandise and a lot to carry for a two-day event,” Lawlar said. “Last year with COVID, we thought a pop-up would make sense, if we could use one of those little stores on Front Street, because we could be open a little bit longer.”

A Walk in the Woods made its triumphant return as a pop-up shop last year, with a 12-day run during the holiday season. It was successful enough for Petersen and Lawlar to think a little bigger when 2021 rolled around. They decided to move back into one of the shop’s original locations — recently vacated by A Darn Good BBQ — and extend the number of days they’d be open.

“This year, we have more merchandise, so we’ll stay open hopefully well into December,” Lawlar said. “We also do custom orders — there are people who would like a custom sign, like the Evanston Elevation signs, for the exact elevation of where their house sits, just to personalize it. And if the store is closed, we’re happy to open it up for those who call and want to do their own private shopping.”

Operating A Walk in the Woods has truly become a family affair, with everyone chipping in where they can, whether it’s painting signs, hanging lights or hopping on a 4-wheeler to cart crafts back and forth between the families’ houses.

“My mom is super-handy — she’s been a seamstress all of her life and is super-crafty with fabric and soft things,” Lawlar said. “My sister is super-talented, and of course with my dad doing the woodwork, we decided we could paint some signs. It’s been a fun, family affair — we all get together and work on things. My sister has learned a lot of new crafts, from etching glass to making gnomes. It’s fun just to come up with ideas — we spend a lot of time talking about what would be cute, or what would be fun. We get an idea, then we pass it off to my mom and dad, who will say, ‘Yep, we can do that.’”

The gnomes have become a popular seller this season, with Lawlar and her family working overtime to keep them on the shelves.

“Lately, my mom and sister have been super-busy making gnomes, and those are fun,” Lawlar said. “We have two different styles — the ones that take longer to make have an individual beard piece that needs to be glued on. We use aspen trees as our base, and that’s become another family outing, to go up and find dead aspens that we can cut up.”

Giant wooden snowflakes have also been in demand, a throwback to the shop in its original incarnation.

“The snowflakes and the gnomes have been the big sellers,” Lawlar said. “Then people will grab an ornament or two, just because they seem to connect with people. They’ll talk about an ornament that they bought 15 years ago when my dad still had his store. It’s neat that it’s more than just stuff — it’s people’s memories.”

That sense of nostalgia is evident in the number of return customers every year, many of whom are willing to share their stories, or photos of where they’ve hung their ornaments in years past.

“We like hearing the stories that people have when they talk about, ‘Oh, this reminds me of my husband’s first truck,’ things like that,” Lawlar said. “My parents met ice skating in Edgewater, Colorado, so we have a propensity to always find ornaments with ice skates, just because it’s special, and near and dear to my mom and dad. So we hear fun stories, and people are excited to come into the store and show us their decorated Christmas tree. We even made a Facebook page, where people can post their photos. It’s a special memory, and they talk about the ornaments they have to buy in groups of twos or threes, depending if they have two kids, or three kids, or six grandkids — each one is with each grandkid in mind.”

Hours of operation vary, though those interested can find an updated schedule on the A Walk in the Woods Facebook page, as well as the local classified pages. If a customer is unable to get to the shop during business hours, Lawlar said to send them a message — they’ll be happy to meet them at the store.

“We post our hours on our Facebook page, and also by word of mouth,” she said. “But if the lights are on out front in the store, it’s a good sign that we’re open. We’ll plan to be open leading up to Christmas — probably around Dec. 20th, we’ll call it good. But all of that could change, depending on how things are going. And if people are interested, they can message us on Facebook, and we can make arrangements to meet them at the shop.”

The holidays have always been about spending time with family. For the Manders, the Petersens and the Lawlars, the time they spend working on A Walk in the Woods has made that much more special, simply because they’re doing it together.

“I think after having a couple of hard years because of COVID, people are looking forward to having more reasons to celebrate and get together with family,” Lawlar said. “For us personally, it’s the same thing — we’re spending time together, whether it’s painting signs, or making things. If we weren’t doing it all together, it wouldn’t be nearly as fun. Our parents are pretty awesome — we’re a close family, so it’s another excuse to spend time together. It makes it very enjoyable.”