Val Champagne has owned and operated the Sundre Flower Shoppe going on 33 years and has watched the annual shop local event evolve from its origins as Midnight Madness. She said there weren’t many people stepping through her doors on Friday, Nov. 29.
“It wasn’t as busy as I had hoped,” said Champagne, reminiscing about the time when the event was strictly a retail shopping night for the community.
Over the years, other organizations got involved to provide additional activities for families, tapping into people’s available time to check out local businesses, she said.
“You can only walk so far and take in so much,” she said.
Santa’s visit at the gazebo, the Sundre and District Museum’s Cookie Walk and wagon rides, the Christmas crafts market, and the local dance group performances, tend to draw parents and grandparents away from the streets, she said, adding plenty of others also went to check out the Peak Theatre Players production as well. Furthermore, many people were also chasing down Black Friday deals either online or in the city, she said.
“I know there’s always going to be something going on.”
But she suggested the Sundre and District Chamber of Commerce consider scheduling the shop local initiative separately from all of the family events.
Having Santa visit at the new gazebo, which was decoratively lit up, “is a wonderful idea,” Champagne said, also expressing support for the museum’s events and the dance performers.
“Just not on the same day,” she said, adding having too many things going on at once creates an overload of activities that don’t leave enough time for people to shop around.
“With all of these other major things going on, it takes people away from focusing on just shopping.”
Over at Bargain Browser, owner Jim Eklund said the evening was fairly quiet.
“It was a regular Friday,” said Eklund, adding he heard other local retailers share similar experiences.
“I believe a lot of people were thinking that we weren’t having it,” he said, surmising that might have been the result of changing the name to Sundre Snow Fest from Sundown in Sundre.
Champagne said neither the weather nor the economy were necessarily the culprits. In years past, plenty of shoppers had come through in spite of extremely cold nights. And this year, business perked up the following day on Saturday, with nothing lined up nor advertised, she said.
Julie Wolfe, owner and operator of Tranquillity Day Spa, said the event is among her busiest days of the year.
“We usually get lots of regular clients coming in to purchase gift cards,” said Wolfe late last week.
“Some people were really generous in purchasing for their loved ones,” she said.
“It was quite nice to see everyone out.”
Although the shop was not as busy as the last couple of years, Wolfe said she brought out all hands on deck to accomodate the crowds. There was still some “hustle and bustle” and she was pleased to achieve her sales target.
“I’m not complaining at all,” she said, expressing her gratitude for everyone who came out to support the local business community during Snow Fest.
Meanwhile, Moe Fahey, the chamber’s administrator, said people seemed to enjoy the lights and decorations at the gazebo.
“They thought it was beautiful. It was a great coming together of the community,” said Fahey, adding Santa had to pack up by about 7 p.m.
“Some people were still showing up just to see the gazebo and stand by the fire.”
From the Greenwood Campground to the museum, the Elks Lodge, Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, and portions of the downtown core, there was a substantial amount of foot traffic, she said.
“It was a beautiful community event.”
West Fraser donated wood for the firepits at the gazebo, while Tim Hortons contributed coffee, hot chocolate and Timbits, and Dawna Warren, from Alberta Medical Safety Services, provided some “huge marshmallows,” she said.
There are always people behind the scenes who don’t seek the spotlight, she said.
A lot of people suggested putting up even more lights, and Fahey said organizers are thinking about seeking donations to get more lights to decorate more of the surrounding trees near the gazebo and by the river.
Plans for next year will involve analyzing this year’s pros and cons to see what worked, what didn’t, and what can be improved, she said.
“We’re thinking about using heaters (at the gazebo) to take the chill off,” she said, optimistic about making next year’s event bigger and better.
The Festival of Wreaths also went well. The ornamental door decorations were displayed throughout the community at different businesses, with individually donated wreaths featured at the Catholic church. While they mostly sold below past averages with the highest bid reaching upwards of $60, every little bit raised will nevertheless help benefit the Sundre Santas program, she said.
William Davies, interim director at the Sundre and District Museum, reported an active evening, with plenty of families coming out for the Cookie Walk, which raised more than $900 for the facility’s operations.
“I’m glad we did it,” said Davies, adding the museum was busy from the get-go at about 4 to 8 p.m., with just shy of 200 people coming through.
The museum staff also brought out an antique sleigh from storage for anyone who was interested in the photo opportunity, he said.
The only drawback was the rather frigid weather that left few people lining up for the wagon rides offered by Darryl McGregor. He ended the rides a bit early since the horses were often just waiting to take a group around the Greenwood Campground.
“It’s too bad it wasn’t a bit warmer,” he said.
Regardless, he shared no regrets. Instead he expressed appreciation for the show of support from people who turned out, as well as the effort from local businesses and the chamber in partnering to host something to do on a Friday night as the kickoff to the Christmas season.
“Hopefully, people will expect to do it again next year.”
Click here for a photo gallery of this year's Snow Fest.
