Folks staying home for Labor Day can travel to downtown La Conner for an evening of shopping and eating. Over 40 merchants on First and Morris streets will be open Friday, Sept 4, until 8 p.m. and several restaurants will close at 10 p.m.

From Enchanted Locks on Morris Street to Fine Feathered Friends on North First Street all the way down to Earthenworks and The Stall at that street’s south end, a wide variety of stores and galleries will be open, waiting for the local community to stop in, browse and buy.

The ad hoc committee planning “Connect La Conner” is led by Town Councilmember John Leaver. He sits on the Town’s economic committee. Rick Dole; Audrey Burrell, Country Inn/Channel Lodge; J. Lonnee, Corvidae Curios and Frame Art; Tamara Loucks, Reclamation Candle & Coffee Co .; and resident Marna Hanneman first met on Aug. 4 with the goal of helping the business community.

If Connect La Conner is successful, the group will continue the one night a month “Open late, Stay late” into the winter. Their plans include updating and distributing an art walk rack card, a “The Ghost of Tom Joad” road tour to attract bike, car and motorcycle clubs to radiate out from La Conner on road tours ending in Bellingham and a “Death by Chocolate” night or weekend.

Information: 360-296-6414, https://members.lovelaconner.com/events/details/open-late-la-conner-8280.