Saturday, March 21st drive in Forsyth Mo!

Fat Daddy's

Forsyth MO. - After hearing the news about the partial or complete shutdowns of businesses, I elected to do a drive-about and see what was up in the City of Forsyth.

My first general impression was how quiet the roads were for the noontime hour. It was a Saturday, and normally the traffic would be robust. That was not the case for the start of an otherwise nice and sunny day! So, here is a breakdown of what I've seen or heard;

Banks - Closed. I wasn't sure if it was because it was the weekend or not. ATM's were up and running, however.

Churches - All closed was my understanding.

Gas island/convenience stores - As they are considered essential services, they were all open. On a positive note, gas prices were at very low levels.

Eateries - Most eateries like Fat Daddy's were closed. I was able to talk with an owner and he informed me that he was investigating ways to maintain some cash flow. I got the impression that some options, including carryout and home deliver were a go. He also indicated he might have food service in an outdoor setting by utilizing the open air eating area and by possibly supplementing those with some tables in the parking lot when the weather was warm.

Mountain Williams Pizza

Other locations that had drive thru's like McD's, Sonics and the Hong Kong Express were open for that sort of traffic even as the lobby areas were closed to the public. The Thrive Bistro was also open possibly due to it limited capacity. Other food related businesses such as Williams Mountain Pizza were offering curb and home delivery services. (When you arrive a sign instructs you to call 546-2012 for curbside delivery).

City Hall - Only the drive thru was open.

Save A

Grocery stores - Both the Country Mart and the Save Alot were open and were getting normal traffic. These both were considered 'essential' services and are able to have unrestricted numbers of shoppers. Once again, customers are urged to shop as you normally would. Supply channels are ramped up with tighter delivery schedules to assure the customers will be able to purchase needed items. Sadly, some items, most notably TP is still in short supply due to greed as some have cleaned out area stores in order to resale them at double the price at such outlets as Amazon. Please let these individuals keep their inventory while we wait for local supplies to be replenished.

Hair saloons -  At least one hair care facility was open and doing a normal amount of business and that was the Town and Country location across from the court house.