Pam Schneider, owner of Cabin 519, felt that the summer traffic for Port Dover businesses was a little under average this year with the confusion over the status of the beach and the paid parking program.
So, she took inspiration from her travels to the States and to Alaska, where she had seen and enjoyed many events like this one, and started planning to host a crawl in Dover to give local businesses a little boost as the weather cools off.
She is no stranger to planning shopping events; Cabin 519 had previously hosted Light Up Local.
But this time, she wanted to include everyone and make it a town-wide event, designed to not only bolster the local businesses but to also get the community out and about, socializing in the last of the nice weather.
The other business owners were quick to jump on board, coming up with ways to enhance the shopping experience at their locations.
If any business in Port Dover is just now learning about this it is not too late to join the fun, they just need to be open and ready on Saturday while the event runs from 1 until 5.
Most of the businesses’ hours extend past that time frame, but they went with that time to also encourage crawlers to enjoy lunch or dinner in Dover.
Pam says she hopes that this can become a yearly event that the community can enjoy and that will bring people together, while supporting the local businesses in the area.
The following is a partial list of businesses and their plans for the event, taken from their Facebook page at the time this article was written:
– Cabin 519 where they will have pop up vendors outdoors and food samples.
– Trish’s Gluten-Free Bakery is bringing in gluten free Dim Sum & Gyosa from Toronto.
– There will be live music, refreshments and discounts at Suzie’s Bombshell Boutique.
– Enjoy tastings at The Dover Cheese Shop.
– C Squared will be serving Cider Keg cider.
– Norfolk Juice Co. will have a feature Fall Crawl Bowl on their menu for the day.
– Beach Reads Bookshop will be revealing their new gallery/event space, and will have a BOGO used book sale and discounted cookbooks.
– The Dover George will be hosting local artist Gail Walker.
– Pearl’s Boutique will have in store specials and permanent jewelry.
– The Dover Mercantile will be serving snack-sized samples of their best sellers and warm beverages.
– 13 Reasons plans to host pop up vendors.
– Cottage North Soapworks will feature pop up vendors as well as free samples of body butter and Fracktals chocolate.
– Roulston’s will be giving out reusable bags to anyone who mentions the Port Dover Fall Crawl.
And you’ll need that bag, to carry all of the goodies you find on your crawl through Port Dover’s shops and restaurants.
To stay up to date on any new additions or changes to the Port Dover Fall Crawl, follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
Written by Robynn Beazley.