There's no masking our joy at the return of pop-up markets

Market at Chocolate in downtown Hershey

Market at Chocolate in downtown Hershey

Ninety-one days.

That’s how long we’d gone between pop-up markets when, on June 6, we were among 20-some vendors participating in the season opener of the Market on Chocolate in downtown Hershey.

We were nervous: the usual jitters that come with putting our relatively young brand out for public consumption, but the added palpitations associated with a pandemic and its implications for human contact after months of social distancing.

Vendors wore masks, as did most customers, but there was no way of hiding our joy at the gorgeous weather, the turnout, the conversations.

We saw familiar faces (the parts that weren’t covered, anyway) and met new acquaintances. A young friend of ours was back for his annual trucker hat purchase (something about his hats and the ocean tide!) and a Hershey Football Training Camp tee. A middle-aged man bought a couple of tees.

“This is neat stuff,” he said. “It makes me happy.”

Such moments make us smile, too.

To be sure, going three months without a pop-up show is nothing compared with the real pain and suffering that so many people have endured at the hands of the coronavirus. Nothing is more important than community health and safety.

But after months of quarantine and uncertainty, a sunny Saturday in downtown Hershey sure provided a welcome lift to the spirit.