The organizer of an outdoor market held at the Chatham Armoury this past weekend is hoping for a summer of fun, safe events in the community.
Lisa Lester from Four Diamond Events says she’d already had to postpone the market three times, but was bound and determined to make the event a success.
“The city didn’t want me to do it, but I said I can assure you I’m going to be within guidelines, I’m going to do whatever I have to do,” Lester said. “At least half of my vendors wanted to push through with it because a lot of them haven’t made any money in the past year, and I was an advocate for them.”
There had been mounting criticism on social media in the days leading up to Saturday’s market, primarily because outdoor events in other CK communities had been forced to cancel or postpone.
Lester says it’s frustrating enough to keep up with the ever-changing provincial restrictions.
“Honestly right now, we don’t even know what’s going to be allowed in the reopening plan two weeks from now, a month from now. This is a perfect way to transition into reopening. This is an outdoor market, no one’s at risk. We need to start allowing stuff that is allowed to happen, and if you know the organizer is capable, stand behind them.”
This past weekend also marked the first Wallaceburg Farmers’ Market, but municipal officials have said under current COVID restrictions, food-based outdoor markets are no different than going to the grocery store as long as proper health and safety protocols are in place.