Shop Waynedale, A Success!
The community-wide event, Shop Waynedale, came to a strong finish last Saturday, August 20th. Organizers say that they are still collecting feedback, but, so far, participants and businesses are giving the event two thumbs up.
“It’s great that volunteers and businesses put together this event.” Ada Wilkinson, a participant of the event wrote in a letter, “It was fun visiting places I hadn’t even visited before! I’ve worked in Waynedale for several years now… and this event was a great way to get people ‘in the door.’ Thank you to all that helped to make this happen!”
Although the event was called “Shop Waynedale,” the ingenious main features included a Scavenger Hunt and a Passport Stamp challenge which did not require a purchase to play, so it allowed more people to participate. This philosophy also allowed people from all economic statuses to participate and tour the local businesses and potentially win a prize, including the top prize of $500.
One large emphasis, in addition to what the event name suggests, was to not only host the games, offer discounts, and give the prizes; but also, to create positive buzz about the community. In all, the event was promoted and broadcasted on just about every television news station, community calendar, newspaper, and many radio stations in the area. And the event was heavily promoted, shared, and discussed on social media. Camille Garrison, Event Co-manager, and Cody Lybrook, new Owner of Waynedale Hardware, gave interviews during a live segment on WANE TV the Sunday before the event. The positive promotion of the Waynedale Community through the event is estimated to be well into the hundreds of thousands of people who read or heard about it.
“When it comes to helping our community become even better than it already is, promotion is key. Even if the event doesn’t automatically relate to an outpouring of shoppers hitting the streets to buy something, the main struggle businesses must overcome is to let the community know where they are and what services/ products they have to offer.” Alex Cornwell, Event Co-manager continued, “At The Waynedale Newspaper, we work with businesses in our community every day and know that their major struggle is awareness. This event gave businesses the opportunity to be promoted and participate for free, while offering a discount that might attract more business. Obviously, the result was that the more attractive the Shop Waynedale discount or giveaway they offered was, the more people that business saw walk through that door. The event did an excellent job highlighting the diverse and abundance of businesses here. Keep in mind that this event was also designed to preserve our local business district and help them even after the event was over; since people now know where they are and what they have to offer.”
Winners of the prizes are still being selected and notified by the event committee at the time of writing this article, but they can say that there were 7 people who were able to receive all of the stamps and who answered the scavenger hunt clues correctly. Of those 7, there will be a random drawing to decide the top prize winner of $500. But, even if you didn’t get them all, you still have a chance of winning a secondary prize of hundreds of dollars in gift certificates and prizes.
If you’re curious and would like to see the answers to the Scavenger Hunt, they are posted on Waynedale.com and in the Facebook event.
Organizers would like to thank all the businesses who participated in or donated to Shop Waynedale, as well as the many volunteers who donated their time to make it happen. They would also like to thank Hill’s Meat Market and Legacy Heating, Air-conditioning and Plumbing for their support as Overall Sponsors of the event.
Please support all our sponsors and participating businesses, because without them, this event simply would not happen. And last but not least, a huge thank you to all the people who participated, had fun, and took the time to explore our great community!
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