A display at an Okotoks store goes well beyond window dressing.
“I came up with this idea because I was thinking, ‘what happens in March,’” said Corey King, manager of Main Street Market and More. “What happened last March -- COVID hit and everybody had to shut down.
“I wanted to say, ‘Hey, we are getting through it and let’s say a big thank you to everyone because everyone is affected.’”
The window display at the store on McRae Street is a tribute to frontline workers, and King wanted to make sure as many as those important people as possible were represented.
Some of the items on display include a pizza box representing those doing food deliveries, white coats to represent pharmacists and doctors, hard hats for construction workers, a Fisher Price farm display for farmers and items for higher profile frontline workers such as EMS personnel, firefighters and police.
“I talked to a lot of people to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anyone,” King said. “Friends, people out in the community and customers asking them who would they like to see recognized – but my window is only so big.”
King spent the last weekend of February decorating the window, but it took all of that month trying to collect those items – while running a store.
“I had to get hold of everybody,” King said. “I went to a couple of grocery stores (Sobeys and Save-On-Foods), a few banks – trying to get some things that would represent some of them.
“We have quite a few nurses in our store and I just talked to a few of them to see if they had anything… I tried to put in as many people as I could. I think we all deserve recognition.”
The display is lit up by some bright official EMS jackets.
She had to get imaginative to represent police services. She used a child size outfit to represent that valuable service.
“I couldn’t get a police uniform to put in the window for the life of me,” King said, with a chuckle. “So, we thought the kids’ costume would work.”
For children, it can almost look like a Christmas window, there is so much cool stuff.
Some of the toys in the window include a cash till, the farm set, an ambulance and construction truck.
“It’s nice to have some fun in the window too,” King said. “Now the kids can stop and be entertained as well – it’s not just about the adults.”
Other items included are a smart sweater representing parents and teachers, a small plaid shirt for children and a larger plaid shirt for farmers and food processors.
Those represented in the window have another thing in common besides helping through the pandemic.“It’s all local – that is what we are all about,” King said.
She found a unique way to decorate the window with something that has become a necessary, but not popular item, during the pandemic.
Throughout the display, hanging from ceiling, are mobiles made from masks – linked together to give a blue snowy look.
“Everybody has had to wear a mask for so long,” King said. “I thought why not. It’s something we have all had to deal with.”
It’s caught the attention of those walking by and into the store at 8 McRae Street, nearly directly across the street from the Okotoks Western Wheel.
“So many people have commented how nice it looks and they love how we have represented so many people," she said. “I had a lady take a picture and say she wants to do something similar for her window.”
