Christmas, COVID, commerce
Holiday vendors, marketplaces and community events hope to spur safe spending
Local small business organizations, vendors and marketplace promoters are not letting the COVID-19 pandemic keep them from propping up holiday-themed events.
Instead, they’re being all the more cautious to be compliant with state and local health guidelines to ensure these events can go on without controversy through the Christmas and New Years holidays.
“I just think it’s really important for people to be able to be festive and not focus on all the bad things all the time,” said Angels Camp Business Association Administrative Intern Genevieve Payne. “Hopefully our business and home decorating contest can bring a little spirit to people that have been feeling down in December with the recent COVID spikes. It’s something to go out and do something for Christmas, because there’s not a lot going on out here.”
Organizations like the Angels Camp Business Association have struggled to get exposure for small businesses and community organizations during the pandemic, with public spending decreased across the board.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, they were unable to host a downtown parade. So now, they hope for the first (and only) time, they’ll host a citywide home and business holiday decoration contest to remind people of those local businesses and hopefully motivate locals to safely spend within the community.
“We’re encouraging pretty much any decorations that are appropriate,” Payne
said, including lights, blow-ups and mechanics. “Whatever people will like that grabs people’s attention and looks pretty and festive.”
The Light Up the Night Contest will be held on Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The event will feature families or close groups of friends driving throughout the community to view the locations. After, they will return to the Calaveras Lumber parking lot and receive a ballot to fill out.
The winners will be selected either Saturday night or Sunday morning, Payne said.
The winning location will receive $500, while second and third places will receive gift cards from Angels Camp businesses.
As of Wednesday, there were 18 homes and seven businesses participating in the event. The deadline to submit for the contest is Saturday, and it costs $20 to submit.
Some businesses that have already signed up include Century 21, Mingos on Main and even Bret Harte High School.
Local and occasional marketplaces are still operating under tight conditions during the pandemic, including the monthly Jamestown street fair, said Malaina Taylor, organizer and owner of Joyful Heart Gardens, a nursery in Jamestown.
They had their first event on Oct. 17 with record-breaking income and had a two-day fair on Nov. 14 and Nov. 15 that required a three-page COVID-19 safety plan. Included in the plan were no face painting, no live music or beer drinking in the street. Booths were set up 12 feet apart, and hand sanitizer stations were set up at the ends of each street. All guests were strongly encouraged to wear masks.
“It looked like a normal street fair. It was finally a normal day in the life of Jamestown, a normal day for humanity,” Taylor said.
They were approved for a permit to close the street on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for their December event, though the restrictions have tightened even further with the possible chance of rain.
“People are going to be tucking under umbrellas, and that’s a congregation that we can’t have,” Taylor said.
She said she was working to locate large umbrellas and canopies and plans to keep them socially distanced in the case of any precipitation. Santa will also be presented for photos in the Rocca Park gazebo, socially distanced and 6 feet high in a chimney.
Still, Taylor’s primary objective was to support the economic health of Jamestown small businesses and the local vendors who sell everything from tie-dye, ceramics, succulent bowls and other holiday-themed wares. There were seven new businesses in the downtown area over the last six months, she added, and local restaurants such as the Service Station offering outdoor dining.
“We just want people to show up. Jamestown has had this bad reputation for so long, but it’s not like that anymore, Taylor said.
In Calaveras County, the organizers of the Celtic Faire and the All Hallows Fantasy Faire are setting up a Spirit of Winter Marketplace at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds under strict capacity and health guidelines, such as complete mask requirements.
“It’s significant because the small business, especially craft vendors, are suffering right now keeping up with the box stores. So, as a promoter, I decided to have a marketplace to help them out,” said Lissa Britt. “We seem to have a lot of support via Facebook and our ads that people want to support small businesses.”
The event will be held inside, so vendors will be following retail guidelines on limited capacity. Food will only be offered packaged and to-go, as they are not allowed to offer seating.
Some of the items being sold will include holiday ornaments, leather goods, soaps, lotions, lip balms, clothing, jewelry, candles, nuts, candy and olives.
“This is a marketplace with modifications. We really appreciate the public’s support to come out and support small businesses in this time when things are different,” Britt said.
Some events, such as the Stuff The Bus event and Drive-by Santa set up by Grandma’s House and Resiliency Village, have been canceled.
Nina Collins, founder and director of Grandma’s House, said they would still be advocating for public decorations while observers remain safe in their cars.
“We know we won’t be out of lockdown in a week,” Collins said. “This way people can enjoy the lights and family.”