Spring in the Hollow: A Reason to Linger

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

Spring in the Hollow should keep the Square busy Saturday, with plenty of reasons to keep making one more lap.

The day starts early with Miss Mary Bobo’s Sidewalk Sale and the LES PTO Color Run at 8 a.m. By 9 a.m., craft vendors will be open, the Lucky Duck Race will be underway at Mulberry Creek, the Young Entrepreneur Market will be on hand with handmade arts and crafts, tasty treats and snacks, innovative inventions and unique services, and the MCHS Band Silent Auction will be open for bidding. That auction runs from 9 a.m. until noon, with winners announced at 1 p.m.

By then, the Square ought to be settling into its stride.

The Barrel Planter Sale starts at 9:30 a.m. at Wiseman Park, and SCA steak sandwiches hit the Square at 10 a.m.

By 11 a.m., the day starts to open up. The International Chili Society event begins at the Welcome Center, the FCE Club will serve Simply Salads at the Masonic Lodge from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the Birdhouse Auction starts at the Gazebo.

Squires’ People’s Choice voting runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., followed by chili judging through the afternoon before awards are handed out at 4 p.m.

But Spring in the Hollow is better if you do more than move from one thing to the next.

Take your time. See what is new. Stop and talk. Make another lap. That is the best way to do a day like this. It is not just about what is happening under a tent or near the Welcome Center. It is about downtown being full of people and open doors.

So while you are on the Square, do a little shopping. Grab a bite to eat, a drink, something sweet. Step inside a few businesses and stay a little longer than you planned. Days like this do more than draw a crowd. They give people a good reason to walk through a few open doors and support the brick-and-mortar businesses that keep downtown going the rest of the year.

That in-between part is usually what people remember. Yes, there is a schedule. Yes, there are contests, auctions and vendors. But the best part is what happens in between — the talking, the browsing, the eating, the bumping into people you know and the slow loop around the Square before heading home.

So come early. Bid on something for the band. Check out the Young Entrepreneur Market. Grab lunch. Pick up dessert. Come for Spring in the Hollow. Stay for the Square.