MAGIC VALLEY — For the first time in its history, The Magic Valley Builders Association will be showcasing their homes virtually.
"Several of our end users and our builders said you know what we just don't want to deal with people coming in and out of the house, and you have to respect that. We still want to feature what they're doing. We are super excited about the virtual option this year," James Wallace, President of The Magic Valley Builders Association, said.
When Gov. Little announced the stay at home order, the committee knew they would face challenges when it came to hosting their Parade of Homes event.
"We had a lot of builders calling in saying, "what are we doing? Is there still going to be a parade? We paid a fee. We still want to have a parade," and like everybody else in the industry and the community, and frankly in this country, it's been a lot of well let's just try to get through this week," Wallace said.
The event will feature some homes virtually, and some homes will allow people to walk through. For those homes, hand sanitizer will be provided at the entrance of each house. Social distancing will also be enforced, and only a certain amount of people will be allowed in each home.
"We are in a unique and unprecedented time with this pandemic. So in our efforts as an organization, and as a committee to help with that and still have our event, we have posted that we must follow the governor's guidelines. We do have hand sanitizer available at the entrances of each house. As the general community, you need to do your job to keep you and your community safe," Wallace said.
Most builders have even decided to showcase their homes virtually, even when the social distancing guidelines are no longer in place.
"It wasn't a tough process. It was something different, and its honestly something that I am going to continue to incorporate in my parade of homes each year following this one," Chris Richey, Owner of Richey Custom Homes, said.
For more information on the Parade of Homes event, you can visit the Magic Valley Builder Association website.
