As I sit writing this in Calgary where the snow is blowing and temperatures are hovering around -20, I'm wishing I was in Cuba prepping my gear for my first day of fishing which was supposed to be March 15. But our world is currently a very different place than anyone could have imagined a few months, weeks, days ago. And we've had to make some difficult decisions as a result.
We recognize that each of us is being inundated with news of COVID-19 on national networks, social media channels, pretty much everywhere we look, but felt it necessary to let our customers know the steps we are taking in response to the pandemic.
We have instituted a stricter cleaning regiment in the store which means common surfaces like bank machine terminals, keyboards, computer mouse, telephones, door handles, bathroom surfaces are all disinfected several times a day.
We've also instructed staff to follow AHS suggestions with respect to hand washing, maintaining distance between each other and from clients, and not to come to work if feeling ill.
In addition, Fish Tales has already postponed or cancelled most of our upcoming events including two hosted weeks of fishing in Cuba, in-store seminars for the remainder of this season, and postponement of this year's F3T until a later date.
Currently, we are proceeding with Monday night's "Trout Bumming The World" with Jeff Currier. We are no longer selling tickets to the event and sales topped out at about 40-45 guests - well under the threshold identified by AHS on Thursday. The Cardel theater has assured us that they are complying with government cleaning recommendations and we will have hand sanitizer on site.
We hope this will be an evening where folks can enjoy a bit of a reprieve from what's going on in the world. That said, if you have purchased a ticket and would rather not attend we are prepared to issue a refund for the price of a ticket.
At this point, the store remains open for regular business hours. As the situation continues to evolve we will look at all possible ways to continue serving our customers and maintaining our commitment to our staff. We strongly believe that each of us has a social responsibilty to try to flatten the curve of the virus.
Although we don't currently have an on-line store we regularly accept orders via email (sales@fishtales.ca), phone (1-866-640-1273), Instagram Messenger, and Facebook Messenger. We are happy to prepare those orders for pickup or shipping at a nominal fee.
We are all in this together. Today I enjoyed card games and a walk with our kids - we found some laughter away from electronics and news. We hope you can all find some moments of calm and joy amid the stress - fly tying is a great way to fill some hours when you're social distancing. Whatever you choose to spend your time doing we hope that you all remain safe and healthy. And please stay home if you are sick.
NS/DB and Staff