NORTH VERNON — Holiday sales may be down, but the Christmas spirit is alive in North Vernon.
Almost all of Jennings County’s traditional December celebrations have been canceled for 2020, including the annual parade and Christmas tree lighting ceremony, but local business owners are still making an extra effort to spread cheer this year.
“Those (events) were things that brought shoppers into the downtown stores. However, in spite of the pandemic, this town has never been decorated more for the holidays,” North Vernon Mayor Mike Ochs said. “Put the kids in the car and just drive around and look at the lights — you’ll catch the spirit.”
Joshua Carlton and Zachary Wainscott, newcomers to the local business scene, brought plenty of trimmings with them when they arrived in downtown North Vernon to open their new ice cream parlor. The Scoop of the Loop Ice Cream Parlor, located at 35 N. Madison Ave, has decked its halls with decorations for the holidays.
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“If you think this is a lot of lights, you should see our building around the corner. Now that is wild,” laughed Carlton.
When Carlton arrived in North Vernon this year, his merchandising business was going very well. He said he was a major provider of the T-shirts, coffee cups and other items sold nationwide by President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.
“We started out selling for both candidates, but (Joe) Biden’s stuff just wasn’t selling so we concentrated on Trump — and that went amazingly well,” Carlton said.
With the large profits gleaned from the Trump T-shirt business, Carlton said he purchased several pieces of property in North Vernon. He and Wainscott opened their ice cream shop in September.
“The first month was amazing. We sold over 7,000 cones,” Carlton said. “We actually sold out of ice cream. We made $40,000 that first month, but we only made $8,000 last month. Of course we are a couple of guys trying to sell ice cream in the middle of winter, but we do have to improve things in order to pay seven employees and meet other expenses.”
A plan to help improve sales at Scoop of the Loop Ice Cream Parlor is to soon feature chili and other hot food items.
Though business is down at the eatery, and the future sales of the unrelated T-shirt business is unknown, Carlton and Wainscott still invested time and money into helping provide food and turkeys for over 146 families this year.
“It’s Christmas. It doesn’t matter how bad things are,” Carlton said. “It’s Christmas and you are supposed to help people less fortunate than you are. That’s just what you do — at especially at Christmas.”
Kathy Ertel, director of the Jennings County Economic Development Commission, said that local business woes aren’t unique to Jennings County.
“It’s extremely tough for our small businesses this year, but it is not just tough around Jennings County. Because of the pandemic, it’s tough everywhere,” she said. “I think our community is doing what they can to help our local small businesses by shopping locally as much as possible.”
The Classic Stained Glass and Gift Gallery, Inc. has weathered many economic storms over the past 25 years. However, the year 2020 has presented many new challenges for the family-owned business located on Hoosier Street.
These days, Tom Means stands at the front door of the shop with a thermometer to take the body temperature of every customer.
“We follow the governor’s directions carefully. We do everything we can do to keep everyone safe from COVID,” Means said.
Tom and Ann Means, and their daughter Lori and her husband Mike Underwood, all work together to keep the shop operating smoothly. The business specializes in stained glass and other unique gifts.
Lori gives lessons in secluded areas of the shop on how to create stained glass, and she also creates stained glass for custom orders. Some of her custom work includes large stained-glass windows that she has created for churches throughout the region.
“It has been a tough year,” Lori said. “We were closed for two months with the early pandemic shutdowns and we are still limited on our classes because of distancing requirements.
“Some days are very slow and some days are very, very busy. We just take it as it comes and we are making it through.”
Ertel said that as soon as the holidays are over, her office will be aggressively seeking grants designed to help local small businesses weather the pandemic storm.
“It’s been tough for everyone everywhere and it is not going to let up anytime soon, but the JC Economic Development Commission is going to do everything we can to help keep our businesses going through the pandemic,” she said.
