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Small businesses make safety changes during St. Charles festival

Some business owners are taking a step the county executive will not: requiring masks

ST CHARLES, Mo. — Carolers belt the classics on historic Main Street in St. Charles Sunday evening but with a 2020 twist.

They're distanced from the crowds with masks covering their nose and mouth. These are some of the changes made by Christmas Traditions festival organizers for the ongoing pandemic.

Festival organizers and individual shop owners have made changes in one of the last St. Louis area counties without a mask mandate.

"I think it looks different, and I think it feels different," shopper Toni Johnson said, adding "but it's a good thing for the time."

Toni and Nathan Johnson were shopping Sunday evening, and a postcard that caught Nathan's eye sums up the experience for him.

"It was Norm from Cheers,’ and he was sitting there with a mask at the bar and it said, 'the new norm.' How fitting is that?" he said as Toni let out a laugh.

At Canine Cookies N Cream Dog Bakery, staff laid out paw-prints to mark the spots where customers should pause in line during this crucial shopping season.

"It is absolutely huge for us. This is our biggest make-it-or-break-it season, so come on down," store manager Lana Rains said.

Rains says they've also installed a plexiglass barrier and wear masks, and they say they see the same courtesy from customers.

"I personally have seen nobody without masks on. Everybody has been great with masks even though Saint Charles county is not requiring them," Rains said.

Though some owners are taking the step the county executive will not, with signs in the window of one Main St. boutique reading "to help stop the spread of COVID, masks are required before entering."

After a year that has been so uncertain, shoppers and owners say their hope this Christmas is everyone makes it to the next.

"The way we look at it, we are supporting small because these are peoples' dreams we're making come true," Jessica Phillips said.

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