Megan Navarro
DRIPPING SPRINGS — With the help of several people, Amy Rossing started a market days event as a way to bring more support to the local businesses in downtown Dripping Springs — and now, the event that has transformed into Christmas on Mercer is in its 20th year of operation.
It all started when Rossing and her business partner, Tonya Morton Toungate, took over Lone Star Gifts from founder Frances Fosdick in 2002. They did not own the building or the content inside, rather it was a boutique mall, where multiple vendors could rent out booths.
It was then that the duo asked themselves how they could keep the vendors, who were paying them rent to use the space, happy. With permission from the city, they started a street fair around 2003, which grew some interest. Rossing wanted to take the next step to continue growing exposure for the businesses that were located along Mercer Street because, at that time, it was not well-discovered as it is today.
By this time, Toungate had moved on. So, Donna Weekly, Barbara Krone, Dana Wells and Rossing put their heads together to come up with a plan.
After a lot of thought on creating a festival, Rossing knew that she wanted to do something like Founders Day — held in April — but around the Christmas holiday, similar to Dickens on the Strand in Galveston.
“There just wasn't anything like it. I wanted to do something that could get some more attention to downtown and to our businesses. Shopping local was important, obviously, to all of us. And at that time, 20 years ago, people were mostly going into Austin, so it was an opportunity to bring something to the community,” she said.
The process for getting Christmas on Mercer off the ground, with the inaugural year in 2005, was a lengthy one, Rossing said. The team behind it started planning it a few months out, having to go to the individual stores off Mercer Street to do sign-ups and getting the word out through different print and radio advertising, since social media was not an option.
In approximately 2007, Rossing went back to work full-time in the human resources field at Dripping Springs ISD, which was when Weekly took over Lone Star Gifts, now known as Juniper Tree. A few years after, she went to work full-time at her and her husband’s rainwater harvesting company, Lakota Water Company, which has been in operation in Dripping Springs for about 15 years.
It has come full circle for Rossing 20 years after the event’s founding, as Lakota Tank Company — Lakota Water’s sister company — will be having a booth at Christmas on Mercer this year.
Though she is no longer involved in the behind-the-scenes of the holiday event, Rossing still looks back on the history behind it fondly.
She also shared that, along with Toungate, Weekly, Krone and Wells, there are many people she has to thank for helping with the festival, including: Chae and Monya Tracy, then-owners of Family First Chiropractic, who were among the first vendors during the market days, and LaDelle Gowans, a local artist, who created the Texas flag piece on the side of the Lone Star Gifts building that was formerly a dock when the building was a hardware store.
“The event was created to honor God, support local merchants and benefit the community. It's become a legacy,” she said. “I’d have to say thank you to the city and the Lions Club, because really, they've kept that dream alive.”
The 2025 event, which is spearheaded now by the city and the Dripping Springs Lions Club, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6. It will feature photos with Santa, a giant snowglobe, pony rides and a festive train ride. The annual tree lighting will be held at dusk the preceeding Saturday, Nov. 29.
For more information about Christmas on Mercer, visit www.cityofdrippingsprings.com/christmasonmercer.
