When a non-profit exec heads home for a Christmas escape in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, she rallies the town around saving her family’s iconic barn with the help of an old beau.

SYNOPSIS:

When work pressure and boyfriend trouble get to be too much for Sandy Bennett, a 20-something non-profit exec, she escapes the city and heads back home to Pennsylvania Dutch Country for a long overdue Christmas break. When she gets there, though, she finds out that her aunt and uncle may be selling the family farm, including their iconic 150-year-old “Star Barn,” a popular tourist attraction and event venue.

Sandy also discovers that a misguided town official wants to sell off other local farms to an unscrupulous developer and pack their downtown with chain stores. So she rallies the town around fixing the barn in time for the annual “Star Barn Ball,” and creates an organization that will renovate the structure and operate it long into the future.

In the process, Sandy reconnects with friends and family over holiday fun and community events like the annual sled race, tree lighting, cookie baking, Santa Fun Run 5K and more. She also rekindles a romance with her old boyfriend Tom, a remodeler who’s always wanted to be a historic preservationist like his dad, and has a Santa hat-wearing Old English Sheepdog called Ernie.

But when Sandy overhears Tom talking to the official, she worries that they’re conspiring to sell off more land -- not realizing that thanks to her, they’re now planning to make local business and farmland preservation a top priority in the town. She also gets a surprise when the boyfriend she left in the city suddenly shows up to try and win her back.

Sandy wears a gold star on a necklace, given to her by her late mother, which frequently reminds her of her mother’s motto: “Follow your own star and it’ll always guide you.” It’s a symbol that’s echoed in the huge, gorgeous old Star Barn, and helps lead Sandy to move back home so she can run the new organization, and renew her relationship with Tom.

A STAR BARN CHRISTMAS