BOYLE — It has not been a very good year, for almost everyone, but for some it was one of the worst years of their lives, and while overcoming those life-altering circumstances is a great challenge, the help of friends and community make for a smoother trip down a bumpy road.
For Sharon Lakatos, 2020 has been a no good, very bad, horrible, rotten year — first having to close her beloved restaurant, the Whistle Stop Café, due to the pandemic, then suddenly losing her husband George to a stroke, but she is making a comeback, with help from the community she loves.
“I'm trying very hard to get my life back on track, because that's just the way I am,” Lakatos said, fighting back tears. “And George always knew that I was very strong person to always come back with a fight.”
Sharon and George had talked about opening a secondhand store even before opening the restaurant, she said, but because there was already such a store in Boyle, they held back. However, with the recent closure of Lo and Behold, she is moving forward with her dream.
"COVID hit (and) on March 27 that shut us down and George passed away shortly after that as well from a stroke,” she said. “And then I just felt a calling for me ... to express my feelings, my gratitude for everybody that helped me, supported me while I was going through this horrible ordeal. And I just felt like it was time for me to move on.”
Moving on means opening her new store Second Time 'Round and More.
Lakatos sent the idea out into the universe with a single Facebook post, and got back a sea can of love.
“I put one (post) on Facebook saying, ‘Okay, I'm opening up a secondhand store aiming for Dec. 1, if anybody wants to do any donations, I will accept them,’” she said. "Well, the donations started pouring in like crazy. And then I had a phone call from somebody from town here and said that they heard that I was opening up a secondhand store and they have a sea can of stuff that they would like to donate to me to help me get started.”
That storage container was full of neatly packed bags and boxes which were delivered directly to her with a message, “He said ‘God has blessed you and paid it forward to you because you paid it forward to so many other people.'”
She added that donations are still pouring in from as far away as Fort Saskatchewan for her little shop on the north end of Boyle, all from one little Facebook post.
Lakatos has been working on getting the store set up with all the secondhand items to represent the 'Second Time 'Round,' and the 'More' represents the furniture she also refurbishes, the fresh flowers she will be selling, the helium balloons as well as the friend who will be selling vintage items and another with CBD oil.
“The whole community is just rocking for me, helping me out as much as they can,” she said. “I appreciate all my friends, my family; they're helping me to get set up."
She added that she will indeed be paying it forward, as she always has, by supporting local charities.
Lakatos’ new venture opened its doors Dec. 1, and is open Tuesdays to Saturday from 10-5 p.m.
