Holiday Season Gets Underway At Genesee Valley Center

FLINT, MI, November 19, 2001 - Genesee Valley Center is the perfect setting to kindle the holiday spirit this giving season. The season kicks off the day after Thanksgiving -- often labeled the busiest shopping day of the year -- with specials ranging from expanded discounts, the ever-popular Marshall Field´s Santa Bear and the latest holiday fashions at more than 130 different stores.

A first this year, the annual "Home Sweet Home" Gingerbread Reception and Auction will be held in the JCPenney Court on Sunday evening, December 2 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Now in it´s sixth year, this Shelter of Flint fundraising event will feature more than one hundred gingerbread houses. The event kicks offs on Friday, November 30 at 6 p.m. with the public display and sale and ends with the reception on Sunday evening. Tickets for the Sunday event are $30 per person and can be purchased by calling the Shelter of Flint at 238.4711.

More than 10 local schools and churches provide entertainment throughout the season, including a roving "Dickens-Like Choir" from Faith Fellowship Ministries, the Flint Arrowhead Barber Shop Chorus, and the newly formed children´s group, Kid´s for America who CARE, from the city of Burton, who sing and raise funds for the children of Afghanistan. The Salvation Army Band will perform three times this year on December 21 & 22 and Christmas Eve.

Genesee Valley Center has extended hours for the holidays and Santa is greeting customers Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. For more information, visit geneseemall.com on the web.

Genesee Valley Center, located on the corner of Miller and Linden roads in Flint Township, is the largest regional shopping center in Genesee County. The Center features specialty stores such as The Disney Store, Underhills Accents, Gymboree, Wet Seal and The Buckle, and the four department stores are Marshall Field´s, Sears, JCPenney and Mervyn´s.