STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Raiza Giorgi says Hailey reminds her of the little Danish-themed town of Solvang Calif., 20 years ago. And the falls in the Wood River Valley and mountains north of Ketchum are even better.

“I’ve never seen such brilliant colors,” she said.

Giorgi is the owner of the new Hailey Heritage women’s clothing store in Hailey. And she and Click IT, with whom she shares a building at 400 N. Main St., threw open their doors for the second Business After Hours since the pandemic started this past Thursday.

“I love meeting other business owners—I’m a connector,” said Giorgi, who has deep roots in the valley that include Burks Excavation.

One of those she connected with Thursday night was Roy Clark, whose Coffee House across from Albertsons provided chicken salad finger sandwiches and crustless tomato basil and ham and cheese quiche bites for the BAH. Clark said his wife concocted the crustless quiche for those on low-carb diets.

Clark, who also moved to the valley from California, supplies nibbles at Friedman Memorial Airport. And the airport, he said, is expecting the Allen and Company confab, which starts after Fourth of July, to be the busiest ever—partly due to pent-up demand due to COVID.

Friedman is also expecting its busiest summer season in general, he added.

Chamber Director Mike McKenna touted the upcoming Hailey Days of the Old West Fourth of July Parade. Grocery Outlet, he said, has volunteered to order discounted candy for parade entrants for those who get their order in by Tuesday at Hailey@GroceryOutlet.com or 208-928.4190.

This year’s 4^th of July Parade will also offer a special needs viewing area outside D.L. Evans Banks. For more information, call The Chamber at 208-788=-3484.

This year’s Grand Marshall is the Ray Nelson family, whose 50^th annual baseball tournament this past month was the biggest ever.