Walking around town just got a little sweeter.

On Saturday, February 6 from 2-4 pm, many locally-owned stores are holding their first ever Sweetheart Stroll, coordinated by local candy store owner Stephanie Gilbert. Gilbert owns Georgie Lou’s Retro Candy Store and is mother to CHS student, Tom Gilbert.

Seeing as this is the first year for the event, Gilbert came up with the idea since “We already do two events down here for kids; we do one before Halloween called Spooky Saturday and we do one before Easter called The Bunny Hop. We didn’t do anything for adults or older people, so I decided Valentines Day is the perfect time of year to do one and I thought, alright, we’re just going to do it.”

Although the event is geared towards couples, girlfriends and guy friends are invited. It offers time for participants to walk through downtown Carlisle and experience all of the hidden local businesses just waiting to be discovered.

For Gilbert, getting other local businesses to participate can be a hassle but is also done with ease since “I have a track record of putting on downtown wide events for the community–it’s not that hard anymore.”

First stop on the list is Georgie Lou’s Retro Candy at 56 W High Street to pick up the Map of Hearts to help begin your navigation through the streets of downtown. This map gives information on the participating businesses along with their offers which entails finding several treats and deals.

Gilbert gives a preview of some of the treats and deals found at these businesses by saying, “All of the businesses are offering some sort of treat – some are doing cookies, some are doing candy, some are doing a hot chocolate bar, something like that. There will be some sort of treat and most of the businesses are offering specials too. There is one place offering buy two dinners, get a free dessert or buy one get one 50% off.”

Although past events have pulled in great success for downtown, this one still has a small concern because “the weather is tricky because if it snows or if it’s really cold, it could be a disadvantage for the event,” explained Gilbert.

Gilbert only asks one thing of the participants and that is to be “patient and not rude because most of us down here are 1 or 2 people businesses – we don’t have a lot of employees. We’re trying to run the store and do the handout at the same time.”

So come to downtown Carlisle this Saturday, February 6 to support local businesses and discover the unique gems and what they have to offer.