Greetings!
:
Hello friends & family of Cornerstone. May has arrived and we are still under the "Covid-Lockdown". Although there seems to be some hints that some restrictions may be lifted to test the waters, we are still being told to stay at home and maintain our physical distancing. As a high functioning introvert, even I am beginning to find some of the restrictions a little challenging. I keep threatening to visit my sister (and by that I mean me staying outside and she staying indoors) and make faces at her and dance on her front lawn! That's a lot for an introvert! The point is, I miss seeing her even if for just a quick cup of tea & a gab. I also miss coming to the store and seeing everyone popping in and out, as well as having tea with Lisa and the other staff members while we go about our shop duties. I miss seeing all the beautiful artwork our lovely artists have created, that currently grace the walls and shelves of the store that are so inspirational and made with great energy and love. But until told otherwise, we will continue to "behave" for the sake of everyone, to limit the impacts of this virus on our most vulnerable people.
Mother's day is rapidly approaching. Being in Covid-lockdown doesn't mean we can't show our appreciation for our mothers. If you usually shop our store for something lovely for your mom, it doesn't have to stop! We are featuring daily on FB & Instagram, "Mom inspired" picks! If something strikes your fancy then give us a call or an email and Lisa will make it happen! We offer curbside pick up and if you need it shipped we will help you with that too! A second option is getting your mom a Cornerstone gift card! This gift can be sent either to you or directly to mom (or picked up curbside), so that she can come in when restrictions are lifted to browse and pick out something for herself on you! Either way, we are happy to help! The store number is 613-546-7967 & our email address is: [email protected].
For the second month in a row, we are sad to say that we do not have a featured artist wall :( Jan Fitch from Wolfe Island was scheduled for May but she has kindly accepted a re-schedule for September. I thought it was only fair to give you a little sneak-peak of the amazing work she does. We are looking forward to her September show!
Marissa Sweet has generously re-scheduled her 1-day class for Sunday October 4, 2020. Call the store at 613-546-7967 to reserve your spot. When we know for sure that the class will run (that we are allowed to be open from the Covid-lockdown), we will then process payments. I would ask that you are committed to coming when you reserve your spot as there are only 8 openings and 2 have already been spoken for.
Other store happenings include the launch of our new website and on-line store. We have this scheduled for Monday May 11 if all goes well. Thanks to local company BentoSMB and in particular, Kelly, for hand-holding us through this process. We moved our entire site from the Wordpress platform to the Shopify platform so that we could combine the shopping part with the rest of the website. This will make things easier for us to mange on many levels! We were able to do this with a grant that we received form Digital Main Street, so a big Thank You to them! An additional big thank you to store manager, Lisa, for all the behind the scenes set up that she continues to do. Initially we are only going to sell gift cards as wecontinue doing the uploading of photos and tagging of artwork that is required. Gift cards will be 2 types: One that you can buy & use on-line and the second is a physical card that you purchase and we will mail out to you (or to the gift card receiver) so that they can purchase in-store when we re-open. I cannot tell you the boatload of work just getting to here has taken. New product will continue to be uploaded regularly, so check back often!
Lisa is planning to do a spring window change-up soon as well! Because of the virus and how busy that this and the on-line store has kept Lisa, our winter theme has overstayed it's welcome! I am not able to share with you what the theme is because even I do not know! Shhhhh it's a secret! Lisa thought it would be nice for people going out for walks to look at something new until the time we are say it's safe to come in and shop.
We want to extend our gratitude to the Baker family in Kingston for leaving "Kindness Rocks" throughout the downtown and on walking trails. They made a beautiful kindness rock of us and we are grateful that they thought of us. Messages of hope and inspiration are colourfully painted on rocks and carefully placed for people to see. Sometimes something so small can mean such a difference in a person's day and take their mental health up a notch in an otherwise stressful time. Thank you for being so inspiring and for reminding people that all the stores downtown are still here and will be here once we are given the green light to re-open safely. During the rest of the pandemic and into the future we ask you to remember to "shop local".
The Victoria Day long weekend is coming up and to be honest I am not sure of event happenings at this time. I doubt there will be the usual fire work displays that are attended to by large crowds. I am suspecting that any celebratory events will be televised. At this time, we are even being asked to refrain from going to the cottage, however I am feeling that that decision may be changing soon! If you are able to by any fireworks for personal use please ensure that you use them safely and remember how frightened pets can become at the sound of them exploding. I personally look forward to a time when laser light shows replace the burning of materials for fireworks. (Noiseless, repeatable, movable, beautiful and safer and make for happier animals at home and in the great outdoors)
Lastly, we would like to offer our sincere condolences and sympathies to our Canadian friends and families in Nova Scotia. In addition to dealing with Covid-19, their lives have been shattered not once, but twice over the past couple of weeks, with the mass shooting deaths of 22 people and the Armed Forces helicopter crash in the Mediterranean Sea that took the life of Nova Scotians, Sub-Lt. Abigail Cowbrough, Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke and Captain Brendan Ian Macdonald. Sadly, we also offer our sympathies to the family and friends of the other members of that crash that included Canadians, Captain Kevin Hagen from British Columbia, Captain Maxime Morin-Morin from Quebec, and Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins from Ontario.
All of these brave people who lost their lives from both of these tragic events will not be forgotten.
In the mean time, please continue to reach out to each other and offer kindness, love and support to the frontline people who are keeping us safe, fed and healthy and to support the friends and families who are reaching out to do groceries and run errands for the rest of us who remain in self isolation or self distancing. Please continue to follow us on Instagram, FB & Pinterest to keep up on the latest news from us. Share our newsletters so others can sign up,and share our social media posts too. Hang in there with us and let's be there for each other. We will be checking phone messages and email messages, and social media inquiries periodically. Please be patient for us to respond.
From our heart to yours,
Penny & the staff at Cornerstone
