Politics & Government

Two Main Street Merchants Hire Sugar Plum Fairy

Not all merchants think hiring her independently is a good idea.

Two shop owners on Main Street have decided to hire Laura Coppinger, the former Sugar Plum Fairy, to work during the annual Christmas Traditions holiday events, according to a story in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

The owners of and will pay for Coppinger to spend time at both of their shops from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. the day after Thanksgiving, according to the article. She may be asked to come back for more events, the article says.

The city decided not to rehire Coppinger as the Sugar Plum Fairy after she cursed during a drug test and displayed "excessively inappropriate behavior and language" according to a statement from Mayor Sally Faith.

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A group of merchants from South Main Street who first started Christmas Traditions in the 1970s said it's not sure hiring Coppinger independently is a good idea.

Holly Haddox, owner of and member of South Main Preservation Society, said the store owners should use some caution and try to just move past the incident.

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"I dont think Christmas Traditions should be politicized," she siad. "We should keep it the happy event it was."

Gene Wood, owner of , said the store owners don't want to get in the middle of it.

Theresa Rubio, the owner of Grandma's Cookies, got involved in helping Coppinger after she was contacted by the person who created the Facebook page "Save the Sugar Plum Fairy."

Rubio offered to have Grandma's Cookies be a collection site for a food drive called "Hunger is a Naughty Word." The food drive continues through Sunday.

Brandon Wies of Grandma's Cookis said the support for the food drive is characteristic of the merchants and people who help make Christmas Traditions what it is.

"It was important to show our support for Laura and keep with this the theme of Christmas Traditions as a joyous holiday," he said.

The food will be donated to Harvester Christian Food Pantry and Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry, he said. 


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