This is part of a year-long ‘Love for Local’ series called NB365: portraits of New Brunswick entrepreneurs, businesses and organizations. Huddle is a media partner with Love for Local. Today, we hear from Sherry McCormick of Lockhart’s Weddings & Special Occasions in Sussex.

I GOT MY ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT FROM MY FATHER WHO OWNED SEVERAL BUSINESSES.

Before purchasing Lockhart’s Weddings in 2017, I owned my own event planning business. Most of the events that I planned were weddings. I really loved meeting the brides and grooms and sharing the magic of their special day.

Ultimately, my dream was to own a wedding salon and when the opportunity came up to purchase Lockhart’s, I had to jump in with both feet and fulfill my dream.

This past year, I have seen a lot of businesses not make it. Knowing what it takes to bring a small business to life, it broke my heart to see others’ dreams come to an end. But, despite all of this, folks are buying more and more online out of convenience and really out of necessity.

We have to remember that small businesses contribute to the community. Many support local sports as well as charities. It’s more than just putting money in the pockets of the owners, it’s those small businesses that give back to their communities in so many ways. Hopefully, once this is over, the trend of online shopping will go away just a little bit and we will want to get out of our homes, get off our computers and actually go into stores and shop to see smiling faces across the counter again.

I believe that this fall, once all this is over, it will be like the roaring ’20s again and we will celebrate like never before. So big weddings, reunions and New Year’s Eve parties will be back on! We are anticipating a great upcoming season.

We will also be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Lockhart’s Weddings in 2022. We are planning events to commemorate this milestone throughout the year as well as a large gala in the Fall of 2022! Stay tuned for details, big announcements are coming!

Supporting local businesses has a real impact because people do not buy goods and services, they buy relations, stories and magic (Seth Godin). I have heard it said when you buy from a small business an actual person does a little happy dance. Support local and make someone dance!