GRAND BEND, ONT. -- The mayor of Lambton Shores wants beach-goers to keep things in check.
Bill Weber made the comments Friday as crowds began to flock to Grand Bend, with the strip filling up with cars, and sun-seekers hit the popular beach.
“We don’t want to close the beach down again like Sauble did in the north, and if people are responsible we’ll try to keep things open. It’s a pretty full day right now, the parking lot. We’re going to charge for parking starting tomorrow and we just hope people respect that.”
On the strip, shop owners welcomed the return of summer-like crowds, but many were being cautious.
Kapil Katarya, the owner of T-shirt shop Ripples, said he knows they’ll never get back what they lost in May and June, but he said it doesn’t matter as long as everyone is healthy.
“We are just hoping for a good July. And we just want not too much traffic as it used to be because this year is a problem year for everybody. We want everybody to be safe.”
Some business are enforcing a mask rule, like Bikiniland.
Owner Vera Mirazic said most people are okay with it.
“And we do have masks. They pay a dollar and if they buy anything they get the dollar back. And we don’t allow anyone to come in without the mask. We sanitize everything.. We steam everything that someone has tried on.”
Restaurant patios also filled up quickly on Friday, with long lineups to get in to the few still left on the main drag.
Meanwhile, takeout joints were grilling up a storm for their sidewalk patrons.
Crepe Palace owner Moe Alex said he’s hoping to make up for some lost ground.
“We actually just started to pick up now with people coming to the beach, and people gonna be happy buying the crepes. It’s nice.”
