Sip & Shop starts off slow

Cloudy skies and colder morning temperatures caused Main Street Mt. Pleasant’s first Sip and Shop of the year to start slowly. There were only a couple of vendors that were brave enough to set up shop outside.

“This is my first time doing something like this, and it’s been OK,” Bridget Ball of Prim Leather Works said. “Perfectly Vintage has been really great with promoting me on their Facebook.

“If things go well, I hope to do it again,” she said. “It’s kind of like a trial run for me, and hopefully it picks up this afternoon.”

Sip and Shop is a Main Street Mt. Pleasant event that takes place on the third Saturday of the month. The public can go to the different stores participating and enjoy a drink while shopping.

Local vendors and craft makers are encouraged to partner with downtown businesses to set up booths for the event. The purpose is to promote local businesses and get more of the community to explore all that Mt. Pleasant has to offer in retail shops.

Another booth that participated was the Faith Lutheran Church. The church was raising money for the Orphan Grain Train, a Christian volunteer program that ships supplies to those in need.

Their booth sat in front of The Vintage Raven, and members of the church were asking for free will donations for quilts they had made.

“It’s been a slow morning, and we’ve only sold two quilts though both people donated over the minimum donation of $30,” Shari Moeller said. “Even if we don’t get all these quilts sold, we’ll still probably end up sending them to the Orphan Grain Train. They always are in need.”

The next Sip and Shop will take place May 15. For more information about Sip and Shop or other Main Street Mt. Pleasant events, visit Main Street’s Facebook page or mountpleasantiowa.org/main-street-events/.