Jingle, Jingle, Mask and Mingle

MT. PLEASANT - Retailers and shops in Mt. Pleasant's downtown kicked off the holiday season with Main Street's annual Jingle, Jingle, Mask and Mingle Wine Walk on Friday evening.

Shoppers from and around Mt. Pleasant strolled through shops while sipping complimentary reds and whites provided by the local businesses.

Sarah Lauer, owner of Lillian Grace Boutique, said the store saw increased traffic compared with years past and had 50 people come through within the first 45 minutes.

'It's the first time it's been held on a Friday night, and we've had a great response so far,” Lauer said.

The owner added the shop has always participated in the wine walk, which continues to draw people to her shop and the downtown area that may have never known her shop existed.

'There were people here a couple minutes before 4 o'clock, ready to go … it doesn't feel like Christmastime yet, but it's a great kickoff,” she said.

The wine walk, one of the first Main Street events to take place since the coronavirus pandemic began, was a welcome change of pace for many local businesses.

Mary Garmoe, a co-owner of bakery Batter and Dough, said she hopes the event will bring awareness to her bakery's holiday products including pies and other Thanksgiving and Christmas treats.

'It's been crazy busy … it's the first event we've had so I think people are itching to get out,” she said.

Many Mt. Pleasant area residents, including Jane and Rob Kinney, were excited not only to get out but also to support local businesses.

'It's a beautiful evening, and we thought it would be a nice night to get out and walk around, support the businesses and try out some different wines we maybe haven't had before,” Jane said.

Two Rivers Bank co-workers and friends Shawna Sammons, Stacy Dixon and Taylor Kemper, strolled from shop to shop grabbing samples of wine and snacks.

'We try to really get out to all of these,” Sammons said.

'These are really fun, and it's a great way to support the community, check out what's new in the stores,” Dixon added.

In addition to local residents, shoppers from as far as Tennessee made their way through the wine walk.

Brandy Wiens, who lives in the Quad Cities, said she was traveling through Southeast Iowa, looking for a Thai restaurant to eat and found out the wine walk was happening at the same time.

'We didn't realize a thing was going on,” Wiens said.

During the event, Wiens visited with the Grinch and Cindy Lou, who made rounds through the square, chatting with children and wine walk participants.

'We got our picture with the Grinch at the restaurant,” Wiens added.

Sheri Pyle, who traveled from Henry, Tenn., said she came specifically for the wine walk.

'My girlfriend lives here, and she told me about this event so I thought, ‘I'll come visit,'” she said.

'It's been so much fun so far. I've bought some stuff, eaten good food, had wine - it's great,” she said.