Wine walk brings several hundred locals to downtown Mt. Pleasant

MT. PLEASANT - What better way to welcome the holiday season than with some wine and good company?

Main Street Mt. Pleasant hosted its second annual Jingle Jingle, Mix and Mingle, a wine walk and holiday open house, on Thursday, Nov. 21.

Nineteen businesses in the downtown area participated in the holiday event, which saw several hundred locals come out to enjoy some complimentary refreshments. The event helped promote businesses and encourage residents to venture inside storefronts and explore what might be available for holiday shopping and Christmas gifts.

'It's a free walk … and just a way to get people into those 19 businesses, especially during the holidays,” Mikayla Mabeus, the director of community development at the Chamber, said.

The event seems to accomplish that goal. Various store owners and managers noted the benefits of partaking in the event, including Barbara Leydens, the manager of Lillian Grace Boutique.

'It's been a really good turnout,” she said.

'We love having Main Street and all of the retailers coming together … it's amazing, our fourth year anniversary will be next week and people are still finding out about us,” Leydens explained.

'It draws people downtown that don't always get a chance to come downtown,” she remarked.

Similarly, Dale Beckman from Breadeaux Pizza said participating in the wine walk allows for 'public awareness” and gets locals 'into the building and remind them that we're still here, and just do something for people who are out and about.”

For first-time participants Temp Associates, the event is also a way to build 'fellowship” and network with locals.

Christina Cook, the account manager at the agency, attended the wine walk last year and took advantage of the opportunity for the branch to also take part in the festivities.

'We do a lot of chamber events but never this one, so we just wanted to participate with the community in a fun holiday event,” Jen Schwartz, the branch manager said.

Dave Rogers, who runs Airport Road Vineyard, supplied sangria and wine out of Brown's Shoe Fit Co. The popularity of his refreshments were evidenced by the sizable groups of people who entered the store for samples.

'Here I can bring wine out to people … I can bring some of our new items out for people to try,” Rogers said on how participating in the event helps his business.

Despite only being in its second year, the event has proved to be quite popular.

Amanda Clark and Patti Roth, both Mt. Pleasant residents, described the event as a 'fun night to go out.”

'We also actually get to see some of the things available because we don't usually go into those stores,” Clark added.