Lake Witch life in the age of COVID-19
Just wanted to do a quick update on life and such since I've been a bit quiet lately. 2020 has lived up to its reputation and then some here in the Lake Witch Fam. Quarantine hit us hard, financially and emotionally. With about 25 shows cancelled this year, and Halloween and the Holiday markets cancelled, it's been hard to remain positive.
Our main gig, The Side Quest bar was closed for nearly 6 months. At the moment we are still partially closed, doing take-out 4 days a week for 5 hours, rather than our typical 7 days a week, 10 hours a day. Everyone in the Service Industry has been hit hard, and it's all about treading water, hoping we all make it thru. It's been really frustrating when we see some businesses and the public not taking the new regulations seriously, with people crammed in, and those of us trying to be as safe possible, are at 25%-50% capacity.
As we move closer to re-opening The Side Quest, it has consumed all of my time. At the beginning of quarantine we did a lot of maintenance and refreshing that we can't do while we are open 7 days a week: Re-finished our hardwood floors, put new floors in the cooler and pantry, painted, cleaned, etc, etc. We've also had to completely rethink the way we do business. For me this means a lot of new design work, website updates, setting up online ordering. We also needed to rework the layout of the bar for COVID guidelines, for me this means building COVID barriers. Since this is The Side Quest, we can't do boring plain barriers, so I've been been spending a lot of time in PA in my Dad's wood shop. The faster I get them built, the faster we can get the inside reopened. Speaking of PA, my partner and I have been home more in the last 6 months than we have been in the last few years put together. Sadly it hasn't been for all good reasons, it's all very private matter, but it's been very important for us to be home so my partner can be with his family.
Needless to say, it's been impossible for me to make Lake Witch a priority. I have several Side Quest project left to finish up, then I will have some time to focus on Lake Witch. I'm planning out ideas for my holiday season. Instead of shows, I will focus on local pop-ups and online. Look for details in the coming weeks.
Hope everyone is being safe. Please please please do your part to make sure we get thru COVID-19. Wear your mask, wear it properly, wash your hands, keep your social circle tiny. Make sure you are supporting your local businesses!
Here's some pics of stuff I made!
