Restaurant staff shortages affecting popular Gilmer Chamber event
After being unable to hold one of its most popular events last year, the Gilmer Chamber was well on its way to having everything in place for Taste of Ellijay to return this year.
However, it was announced last week that the outdoor food sampling event scheduled for Thursday, May 27, has been canceled.
Staffing shortages at many local restaurants prompted the cancellation, according to a Gilmer Chamber release that states:
“This was not a quick or easy decision to make. Taste of Ellijay is a favorite event for locals, visitors and restaurants alike. Several venues were pursued to try and make this event possible. We spoke with, emailed and visited several restaurants to see what assistance the chamber could offer in helping make their participation possible, and one theme was clear: the current staffing crisis has hit our restaurants especially hard.”
A special event permit, required for events where alcohol is served, had been approved by the Ellijay City Council, and planning was well underway for the event that typically draws more than 1,000 downtown, confirmed Lisa Salman, the chamber’s tourism manager.
“We’ve put forth the effort thinking it (would go on),” she added. “We (also) had to apply for a special alcohol license for this event through the Department of Revenue because we sell wine. We had the banners to go up in town. We had the music planned and certain safety precautions in place, even though the governor has lifted some of the orders. We were spacing out the booths, and everything was ready to go.”
Around 30 local restaurants normally sign up as Taste of Ellijay vendors. Several were contacted this year, but only eight had made a definite commitment to participate, Salman noted.
“We didn’t want to wait and cancel at the last minute and the few restaurants that could participate to order food for 1,000-1,500 people, then be stuck with a last minute cancellation,” she added.
The cancellation comes after Taste of Ellijay and other big chamber events like the Georgia Apple Festival and Apple Arts on the Square weren’t held in 2020. Its springtime Apple Blossom Festival was canceled in 2020, then a cancellation was also announced for this year’s festival.
“It breaks my heart to have to cancel another event. We had to cancel Taste of Ellijay last year, and we were looking forward to putting it on this year because it’s truly an event for locals,” Salman said. “We have some out-of-towners who come in and people here for the Memorial Day weekend who participate, but this event is mainly attended by our locals and they love it. That’s what saddens us the most.”
Staffing shortages amid the COVID-19 pandemic is something that restaurant owners are facing not only locally, but also statewide and nationally, Salman noted.
“(For) some restaurants, this is the first time in 11 years they haven’t participated. They’re as disappointed as we are. Plenty of them are having to close their dining rooms early or close on other days because they just don’t have the staff. We want our locals to frequent our restaurants, but also show them love and be patient and kind during this time,” she added.