For the past five years, the Liberty & Vine Country Store in downtown Billings has hosted a giving tree around the holidays where community members could drop off donations for those battling cancer.
But now the shop is closing its doors and owner Amy Pawlowski is looking for a new place to host their tradition.
To fully understand why the donation tree means so much to Pawlowski, it helps to gain a better understanding of the roots of the business.
Liberty & Vine offered customers a two-for-one experience where they could purchase antiques for resale or new merchandise brought in by vendors. The store had room for 30 stalls where vendors could come in and sell their wares.
“Our main focus in our store was decor and home goods,” Pawlowski said. “They were one-of-a-kind items that were meaningful gifts and meaningful things to take home for yourself.”
This unique setup is a big reason it’s a draw for the Billings store, and Pawlowski credits much of the store’s success to their dedicated vendors. Among them was Sherry Johnson, who made large angels from scrap metal.
“We had a mix of the old and the new, and I think that appealed to a lot of people,” Pawlowski said. “Liberty & Vine is popular because the things Sherri did were popular.”
Pawlowski said Johnson’s booth is among the most visited in the store. But in 2019, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and the angels became more popular.
“Those angels flew out of the store because people realized they weren’t going to be an option in a year or so,” Pawlowski said.
The day Johnson died, Pawlowski bought an angel from her. She turned out to be the last one to do so and was placed on a Christmas tree.
“I wanted one for the store,” Pawlowski said. “I can’t put it into words. It’s vital.”
Since then, that tree, which has a photo of Johnson on top, has become a daily fixture at the establishment. Liberty & Vine partnered with Frontier Cancer Center, which led them to reach out to patients by asking for their one and only wish.
These wishes are placed on the tree each year as ornaments and community members can pick them up and deliver the wish back to the store in time for the holidays. Pawlowski said the donation tree has been a hit from the start.
“The first year we had so many ornaments on the tree,” Pawlowski said. “They were all gone by the end of the first day. It was beautiful. Reading these gifts and what people wanted was very satisfying.”
Among those the tree helped was Billings resident Shel Green, who was given the gift during her battle with stage four throat cancer.
“It was very emotional to have people … I’m sorry,” Green said through tears. “People care enough about you that they would do this for you.”
The gesture was so impactful to Green that she returned a year later to return the favor.
“I picked someone out of the tree,” Green said. “I wanted to return the gift and the prayer. It wasn’t because of the gift, it was just the fact that someone is thinking of you in a difficult time.”
But now that Pawlowski will retire, Liberty & Vine is closing its doors. Pawlowski is actively looking for a business to continue the donation tree tradition and said he’s not worried about anyone in Billings stepping up.
“I believe it will happen,” Pawlowski said. “I’m never surprised by the spirit of our community when it comes to taking care of each other.”
It’s a tradition that Pawlowski holds dear and one that honors someone who means a lot to her.
“It’s pretty cool that this tree lives on the way Sherry did,” Pawlowski said. “She lived her life helping people to the end, and so is this tree.”
