A monthly event hosted by the Panora Chamber of Commerce will have some added seasonal delights this Friday.

Shop Local, Eat Local, Be Local is celebrated on the second Friday of each month to encourage residents to support local businesses at a time when businesses have faced a strain by the COVID-19 pandemic. This Friday’s event will include a special lighting of the town square, horse drawn carriage rides for $10 from 5-7 p.m. at the Panora Public Library courtesy of Cyclone Pest Management, and extended business hours. Panora Chamber member Julie Wykoff says there are several options for holiday shopping and supporting the local economy while social distancing, “It’s nice to make sure that you can just stay around people that you know and not have to get in your car, drive to the big city. While shopping online is certainly convenient and fun and many of the businesses here in the Chamber offer online options with local pickup, it’s still nice to be able to touch, see, and feel things. And it may not work for every business, but a lot of the businesses also are likely willing to do special events like personal shopping, pick things for you, special hours where you might be the only one in the store, different things like that. So to me the pandemic actually grows the reasons to shop local and be local.”

For more information on the Shop Local, Eat Local, Be Local promotion, visit here.