Two weeks after the inaugural ‘Swing into Spring’ event launched in downtown Moose Jaw by local entrepreneur Laurie Hysuick, the project’s creator said she’s happy with how things turned out and looks to continue with the ‘Christmas in October’ analogue again in 2025.
The event drew a crowd – although no official estimate has been confirmed – and 21 downtown businesses were open and partook in the initial run. Beyond this, Hysuick said three businesses who missed the deadline donated additional prizes for the gift raffle in a show of support.
“It actually went really well,” Hysuick said. “We had a bigger turnout than I thought (we’d have).”
The event created an atmosphere that Hysuick said loosely resembled the fall counterpart that helped inspire the springtime project.
“It was almost like Christmas in October all over again,” she confirmed.
The idea behind Swing into Spring came about as Hysuick, the owner of Mitny Refillery located at the old train station in Moose Jaw’s downtown, decided to do something to celebrate the arrival of spring. Much of the motivation, she said, came from the analog project, Christmas in October.
Swing into Spring is organized in a manner similar to Christmas in October. During the event, shoppers can meander from shop to shop among participating businesses and see what they have to offer – all while helping to support the local economy.
To facilitate business owners giving back in a manner similar to the downtown shoppers, each participating business is asked to donate a small product or gift card from their store and shoppers have the chance to win a grand-prize gift basket with each store they visit.
After seeing firsthand the success of Swing into Spring, Hysuick said she continues to receive positive feedback from downtown shoppers, tourists, and small business owners alike.
One of the main insights, she said, was the recurring feedback from shoppers who said they felt it was great to get something back from downtown businesses. This input alludes to the gift basket raffle which has proven itself to be quite the attraction.
The winner of this year’s prize was a resident from Regina Beach who was visiting Moose Jaw at the time. With any luck, her experience could help attract more interest among tourists in 2025.
Hysuick is now considering the addition of a map highlighting all participating businesses so shoppers can follow a designated route to explore the downtown efficiently and maximize their chances of winning next year’s grand prize.
“People loved it, and they want to do it again,” she said. “So, it’ll just be getting ready again for next year and seeing how we can make it even better.”
Hysuick said numerous businesses have since reached out to her inquiring about participation in next year’s event, and the number one reason behind most absences this year was simply due to a lack of awareness.
For next year’s Swing into Spring event, Hysuick is anticipating an even greater level of participation and she’s now taking steps to increase awareness of the new idea.
“I think that now we’ve done it, we can definitely look at getting everybody more aware for next year,” she said.
“I think next year will just be bigger and better, and (it will be) just a way for us to give back and kick off spring.”
If you own a downtown business and would like to participate in next year’s Swing into Spring event, contact Laurie Hysuick at 306-694-6330 or visit Mitny Refillery at 5 Manitoba Street East to register in advance.
The next iteration of Swing into Spring is anticipated to take place around March 2025.
