Forecast: a busy holiday weekend
Traffic heads through Woodstock Village on Wednesday afternoon. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
Easy travel, better weather, and safer public health conditions — all that points to a busy Memorial Day Weekend, maybe one for the record books, local businesses say.
With more people vaccinated against COVID-19 and fewer restrictions, more locals and visitors are getting outside, and even last weekend shops were feeling the business impact. Sudie Watson, owner of Sudie’s in Woodstock Village, saw the positive trend first-hand.
“Last weekend was really busy,” she said. “People are just so delighted to be able to travel, get around and feel safe doing it.”
Watson said she and her employees are all vaccinated, and they’re hoping to see more customers this holiday weekend, with so many more people able to visit.
“Everybody’s mood has been so good,” she said on a sunny Thursday. “We just hope the good weather continues.”
People are certainly making plans, too, and reservations at restaurants have filled quickly. The Prince & The Pauper Restaurant, operating at 50% capacity, saw reservations fill up a few days ago, and they’ve kept getting calls.
“We have a waitlist for the whole weekend,” said the restaurant’s co-owner, Liz Schwenk.
She said inside dining has become increasingly busy in recent weeks, as more people have gotten vaccinated and the weather changed. The restaurant is no longer marketing its take-away option, as it’s shifted to having a greater number of indoor customers.
A shift is coming for the Woodstock Inn & Resort — it’s opening up all its rooms to reservations as of June 1. Bookings for May were done at 75% capacity, and the inn has reached that nearly every weekend in May, including this next one, according to Courtney Lowe, vice president of marketing and business development. Lowe, who will be the resort’s president as of July 1, said travel has been picking up quickly, with Woodstock in the heart of the drive market.
“With most of the country held to domestic travel, this bodes well for us and Vermont’s lodging industry, and we are seeing a significant uptick for summer reservations,” Lowe said.
As usual for this weekend, Woodstock has its annual Sidewalk Sale Days on Friday and Saturday, with live music both days. On Friday, state crews will not be doing road construction for the ongoing Route 4 paving project, so as to not disrupt the flow of business, according to Beth Finlayson, executive director of the Woodstock Area Chamber of Commerce. This was arranged with the help of the town, she said.
The chamber is looking forward to a busy warm season for the area.
“We’re expecting this summer to be a great summer,” Finlayson said.
That’s the same feeling in nearby Hartford, where there’s also been a recent uptick in business.
“The Quechee Gorge was very busy last weekend,” said PJ Skehan, executive director for the Hartford Area Chamber of Commerce.
Anything close to good weather will likely make it a strong holiday weekend, Skehan added. That said, he noted there are still challenges, with some sectors having trouble finding the help they need. The Public House at Quechee Gorge has been closed on Sundays for that reason, said the restaurant’s owner Andrew Schain.
“We’ve had a little uptick in people looking for jobs, so we're hopeful," he said.
Plus, April and May have seen the Public House bring in numbers nearly even with the same period in 2019.
“It feels busier, but the numbers don't lie really, and they're close to normal numbers,” Schain said.
The state is inching closer to lifting its statewide mask mandate, which has been adjusted for outdoor settings and for vaccinated individuals. At this point, most business sectors are under Vermont’s “universal guidance” which, in part, requires masks and six feet of social distancing. The state aims to lift all restrictions on July 4 at the latest, but it may do so sometime next week if recent vaccination progress continues. The state will lift restrictions when 80% of eligible Vermonters are immunized. That number stands at 77% as of Wednesday.
In Woodstock, the village has adjusted its mask ordinance to match the state’s changes. The Village Trustees plan to suspend the local ordinance when the state’s mask mandate ends. While the statewide mandate is in place, businesses still have the option to create stricter masking rules.
Looking at weekend weather, some rain is in the Woodstock forecast for Friday-Sunday with highs around 60 degrees. Sunny conditions and 70 degrees are expected for Monday.
— Gareth Henderson
