August 8, 2025 <\/p>\n
\n Jessica Mathews \/ news@whmi.com <\/p>\n
A long-standing local business in downtown Brighton is celebrating its 50th year this summer \u2013 with the owners saying they\u2019re proud of their roots in the community and the generations of customers they\u2019ve served along the way.<\/p>\n
Wood ‘N Things, the historic red building with the antique train caboose, is celebrating 50 years with a 10-day event that runs through August 17th. <\/p>\n
Founded in 1975, the family-owned business offers a wide selection of seasonal and everyday home d\u00e9cor. Each room in the shop reflects a different theme and seasonal d\u00e9cor. <\/p>\n
Wood ‘N Things moved to its current location four years after opening. The distinctive red historic home, complete with an authentic Grand Trunk Railroad caboose, has become a local landmark. Over the years, the shop has grown its offerings while maintaining its hometown charm.<\/p>\n
In the 1980s, the store\u2019s nostalgic setting was featured in a national Oldsmobile ad. In 2019, it became a filming location for the Lifetime holiday movie “A Christmas Winter Song,” showcasing its holiday magic to a national audience.<\/p>\n
It’s a landmark shop in the downtown area that smells like the seasons. <\/p>\n
Shop Owner Pat Bayless said \u201cCustomers often say the shop smells like fall, Christmas, or summer the moment they walk in. We love that this place gets people excited about each season of the year\u2014it helps them slow down and savor the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 10-day celebration honors Bayless, whose journey from a biology student at Purdue University to Brighton business mainstay is said to be \u201cas unexpected as it is inspiring\u201d.<\/p>\n
A release states:
\n\u201cPat never set out to run a store. She began her college studies in math and biology until a medical condition altered her path. During her recovery, she began crafting with her father, Joe Lents, in their garage. What started as a distraction turned into a lifelong career. Their handmade wood items sold quickly, and in 1975, they opened the original Wood ‘N Things in a modest shed. Now, five decades later, Pat is among the longest-operating business owners in Brighton, and her shop is one of the town\u2019s most treasured destinations.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information, visit the provided links. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 8, 2025 Jessica Mathews \/ news@whmi.com A long-standing local business in downtown Brighton is celebrating its 50th…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216,8860],"class_list":{"0":"post-67763","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-whmi-radio-93-5-livingston-michigan-news-weather-traffic-sports-classic-rock-howell-brighton-fenton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}