The Jamestown Mercantile is opening back up and swinging into the summer months. Its proprietor Rainbow Shultz has weathered the storm of the past year and talked about what was in store for the summer at The Merc.

“We’re having a fun summer,” she said when I asked her what the future held for The Merc. “The town of Jamestown has generously, for one more summer, let us use the park across the street from The Merc as our dining room.”

That means that the small park in the center of Jamestown will be the gathering place for the patrons of The Merc’s summer activities.

Shultz went on to describe what was planned. “Thursday evening, Friday evening, and Sunday morning we have live music in the park, meals and drinks on the front porch of The Merc, and Saturday morning we’re doing a little grab-and go market in the mornings out front.”

Grab-and-go items will include burritos, pastries, coffee and other items.

Shultz said, “We actually have been getting pastries from a friend, but we make the burritos and drinks and everything.” Foods will be priced in the four to ten dollar range.

When asked about how the town was responding to the planned summer’s festivities, Shultz said, “So many people have been enjoying it that we are still only open four days a week. It’s been quite an endeavor, it’s like a little music festival every day that we’re open. We’re hoping to move back inside in October if all goes well with Covid. In the meantime we’re just enjoying the beautiful outdoors, all summer long.”

She says it’s well attended and overall, it’s been a great time. However, she says, “Parking is a little bit of an issue, so we’re asking everyone to be conscientious of not blocking anyone’s driveways in town here.”

As the town has increased its profile and more visitors make the drive to Jamestown, it was inevitable that the traffic would be an issue that would have to be dealt with. Shultz and other members of the community have taken steps to ensure the events are as safe as possible. “I’m actually on the traffic slowing committee, coincidentally,” she said, “it was a low-budget way that was approved by the county, for the artists in town to paint barrels that just cause a tiny bit of a hindrance, to slow traffic down because there’s so many people using the road to go back and forth. It’s really important that people drive slowly here.”

She said so far it had been a successful effort, although she admits that some people still wanted to drive too fast though town. “Overall, unfortunately, that’s not a safe option,” she said.

Shultz spoke briefly about the past year. “Well, everyone in the mountains was really supportive, and participated in the CSC program (Community Supported Café) and got our delivery food while we had music played to a Zoom audience from inside the Merc.” She continued, “Now doing this outside in the park is kinda like The Merc 2.0, it’s different than before Covid. But we’re hoping maybe next winter we can come back to how we remember it, squeeze back inside; so many people inside one small room in the mountains.”

Bottom, right; The Jamestown Mercantile, known as “The Merc, Home of the Slightly Feral.”[/caption]

She talked about who the people were that were coming to The Merc, and whether they were local or from outside the community, she said, “It’s both, The Merc has always had a pretty wide geographic community. We have people that come up from Denver, and they always have, and we still have the Jamestown community coming.” She continued saying, “Now, post-pandemic, I’ve heard from all of the mountain communities, there’s a lot more tourism. I think that people are seeking quiet spaces now that life is back to full speed. And people seem much more curious about the mountain towns in this area. We’re all noticing that.”

As the mountain towns and the folks that inhabit them try to return to the new normal, restaurants and businesses like The Merc and its counterparts in the various communities will be tasked with helping to create ways for people to get out and open back up to a post pandemic reality.

The Jamestown Mercantile summer hours will be Thursday and Friday evening for dinner from 5 - 9 p.m., Saturday morning Grab-and-Go breakfast and Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

The Jamestown Mercantile is located at 108 Main Street, Jamestown, Colorado. For more information go to jamestownmercantile.com or call 303- 442-5847.