It’s post May 24 weekend. Normally, it means that summer has begun. Cottages, patios, parks- the whole Canadian summer experience.

Not this year.

COVID-19 has thrown a wrench into the works, like it has so many other things. However, we are beginning to see signs of life. Things are, slowly and cautiously, reopening. Which is good. The more cautious the better.

While we are all eager to return to business and life as usual, we also don’t want to see any more people having their health and lives overturned by COVID.

However, there are some businesses that are opening back up, again, with heavy precautions in place. Golf courses, marinas, and a few other places are open, provided that they can abide by extremely stringent social distancing measures.

Other businesses are tackling this in their own way; the zoo, for example, is opening a “drive-thru” experience, which looks to be both safe and entertaining.  Ripley’s Aquarium is running live (virtual) shows, and is offering free access to a significant amount of educational material. Live cams of the animals are online now, as well- check it out here.

“Closer to Home” – i.e. our Rostie Group offices, things are returning to normal, just a little more slowly.

The parks are still open, but for local and through-traffic only.

If you’ve been paying attention to the news, then you know that restaurants are still doing takeout and delivery – we recommend ordering from the restaurant directly, as the most common delivery apps take a significant percentage of each order. They’re definitely very convenient, but we love to support our great local businesses, and this city wouldn’t be the same without our world-class restaurant scene.

As a small business ourselves, we want to thank all of our community members for being so great during this time of global uncertainty, and we look forward to having everything back to normal as soon as possible!