By Arielle Kass
Staff Writer
Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE - A little wine goes a long way.

Stone Mountain Village is hoping the offer of some free fermented grapes will bring people to a Walk and Wine Tour on Saturday on the town’s main street.

Steve Wells, the executive director of Main Street Stone Mountain, said about 200 people came to the event in April. The tour is held from 6 to 8 p.m. the third Saturday of each month, but after a June tour, the event will be taking the summer off. It will resume in September.

“It’s a great opportunity to check out what’s in the village, the shops there,” Wells said. “It’s a way to get people downtown to see what’s available.”

Wells said many of the stores close before 6 p.m., so having them stay open later will expose people to the options in the area. The wine at each store will be available at Stone Mountain restaurants and some of the shops will have hors d’oeuvres, too. Participating retailers will have balloons outside their doors and sales on merchandise.

Depending on how long people spend shopping, Wells said they could get through the tour in an hour.

If the weather is nice, he said, he expects a lot of people to come downtown.

“Last month was really good,” Wells said. “Pretty much, everything I heard was positive.”

The Village of Stone Mountain is one exit prior to Stone Mountain Park on U.S. Highway 78 East. For more information regarding Main Street Stone Mountain, call 770-498-7334 or visit www.stonemountainvillage.com.