Rotarian Melissa Trammell had program responsibilities for the Winnfield club’s June 11 meeting and asked Cristy Carter to come talk about the business of “Friends Gifts and More,” a local store offering custom gift items.

Carter is a lifetime resident of Winn Parish, a 1993 graduate of WSHS and a 1997 graduate of NSU.  Her college affiliation, she joked, receives some barbs from her husband Jamie Carter who is a graduate of Louisiana Tech.  They have two sons, ages 21 and 25.  Cristy may be a familiar face to many due to her 10 years as manager at Walmart.

Friends opened in December of 2023 as an inspiration of four friends, Carter, Rhonda Wise, Heather Jones and Andrea Poisso.  She described her own mom as being “crafty,” able to build or paint anything.  Now the friends have taken that concept to provide a variety of gift items for all ages.  Each of the four brings a different skill set into the business.

“If you need a little ‘happy,’ we can provide it,” she explained.  They particularly enjoy taking the work of children, whether writing or drawing, and transforming into an array of keepsakes.  “We do special gifts, putting them onto things, almost anything you want them to be on.”  (One exception, she noted, is T-shirts.  No T-shirts).

Among the array of offerings she described are portfolio items for businesses, business logos on pens, engraved jewelry, graduate gifts like journals, hats, bridal and wedding gifts, birthday party baskets, baby gifts, Secretary Day items and more.

Carter presented some store items as door prizes to Rotarians at the program’s conclusion.  To a “Thank you” that she heard, her reply was “That’s what Friends are for.”  The store is located at 209 South Abel Street.