So here's a little background story to let you know a little bit about us. Bob Gorrell, the creator, of shelly's jelly's, is a former U.S. He then went to work for himself as a commercial fisherman. I remember as a child helping him sain up snails in California and we would take a day trip to Oakland and San Fransisco to deliver the truckload of escargo to the fish markets. As an only child I got
to go most everywhere with my parents and what I learned from them is that they work hard to make sure our family is taken care of. We moved to Oklahoma when I was 9. My dad, Bob, continued his commercial fishing journey breeding koi, stocking decorative ponds, and aiding farmers with stocking their ponds with whatever they needed to balance their ecosystems. He didn't always have help as my mom, Shelly, was working as a nurses aid, and I, Christina, was in school. Dad did a lot of heavy lifting by himself and that has since caused a lot of issues with his back. My mom, Shelly, is always finding something crafty to do. She made herself a pair of earrings one day because she needed some to match a shirt. Wore them to work and got so many compliments on them she started making them to sell. After dad started the jelly adventure they also had a garden every summer so they decided to start being part of a local Farmer's Market. Dad also was doing some woodwork which included projects as big as a bed frame to signs and stools. I, Christina, decided to start my own side project and started making candles. I was never happy with the ones from the store. They either did not smell strong or wouldn't burn all the way down. We made my candles an addition to our Farmer's Market booth. We then had a wide variety of items and produce for people to choose from and kept getting requests for other items so we have expanded. People love that our items are all hand made which gave mom inspiration for our final goal. Someday we will have a store. A shop that features only local handmade/homemade items and homegrown homemade snacks and dishes. The store will be called "All Things Hand Made'
When we accomplish this goal we would open the doors 1-3 times a week for an after-school program for the local kids to come and learn an art/craft to help keep kids off the street and out of trouble.
