“I was pleased to see a good crowd, not as big of a crowd as we typically have, but a good crowd nonetheless,” Blankenship said. “I’m just hoping that a lot of people actually did shop last night; it was still good to see everyone out and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.”
Matt Barcellos, longtime Exeter resident, stopped by Mixter Park with his wife and three young children to see the lights after picking up their family Christmas tree from Save Mart. In his letter to the editor – published on Opinion this week – Barcellos said, “as much as this town has grown for the better over the last 30 years, the Grinch Street event held Dec. 3 in downtown Exeter was a significant step back with regard to progress.”
Barcellos said he and his family did not leave their car, but watched the crowds gather with disappointment.
“As we sat there staring out our windshield, we were dumbfounded by the amount of people walking around not minding the social distancing recommendations, and on top of that, the majority were not wearing masks,” Barcellos said. “Our three young children were wondering why they couldn’t get out of the car, why they couldn’t interact with the Grinch or Santa Claus, because after all, ‘everyone else’ was doing it.’”
Barcellos said he and his wife had to remind their children again that the world is currently experiencing something it hasn’t seen in a very long time, and that it’s their moral obligation to the ones they love that they not inadvertently put them—or themselves—in harm’s way.”
“Were they upset? Absolutely. What 9-, 7- and 4-year-old wouldn’t be? But we are their parents, and it is our job to sift through the good and bad decisions, and then help them understand the choice(s) we’ve made for them,” Barcellos said.
The evening kicked off at around 5:30 p.m. in front of Tricia Kirksey Real Estate, where the Exeter Grinch plunged a detonator in front of a crowd to spark the light show downtown with the help of Exeter resident Bethany German, 16. Tricia Kirksey Real Estate also live-streamed a raffle drawing via Facebook to support the Exeter Food Closet.
Sally Brewer, owner of Exeter’s Book Garden—the only independently owned bookstore in Tulare County—and Exeter Flower Company, said despite the open house being a bit more informal and less organized this year, she was pleased to see the high turnout.
“The town and people around town from other cities, they showed up,” Brewer said. “It’s early, so there was a lot of looking and not as much buying, and I think we all anticipate that people will kind of look over what you’ve got and think about it, then hopefully they come back. But it was a good turnout, we were pleased.”
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December 09, 2020 at 10:33PM
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Open house sees crowds despite COVID-19 - Foothills Sun Gazette
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