For the inaugural 2024 SideLock Sales event, the skies were blue, the weather was warm and the fresh breezes off the St. Marys river were welcomed.
Linday Ellis, of Ellis Events and Services, teamed up with Scott LaBonte's Famous Soo Locks Boat Tours, to get the ball rolling.
"It was an afternoon of brainstorming. Scott wanted to put on some sort of festival on the boat tour property and he knew I coordinated events before so between us and a couple of other people, we came up with a spin-off of the traditional Sidewalk Sales event that occur downtown and we came up with SideLock Sales," Ellis said.
Two-dozen vendors were on-site to help make the event a success.
"We have vendors from as far as four hours away as well as many locals including several non-profits," she said.
This is the time of year when downtown Sault Ste. Marie holds their Sidewalk Sales event. However, with no current Downtown Development Authority (DDA) director, that never came to fruition.
Ellis said that SideLock Sales was planned well in advance, hoping that this event would coincide with the downtown event to get people to visit their event then head to support the downtown businesses.
"It was created to be a great opportunity for people to do in the Soo," she added.
Ellis says she will always have a special place in her heart for the events and partnerships by planning previous events downtown.
"It's crucial people remember our small businesses, too," she concluded.
