Capt. Mark Mallad and Lt. Jason Tarsia of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, with Mike Welch, chairman of the East Lee County Chamber of Commerce, at Fall Fest at EmJay’s on Friday. CHUCK BALLARO

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The East Lee County Chamber of Commerce held its first big social event in more than a year at EmJay’s Tavern & Grill Friday night.

Cancelled last year due to COVID and postponed this when the pandemic resurged, the temporarily renamed Fall Festival went off without a hitch.

And though it was a little smaller than they’ve had it in the past, it was still deemed both a major success and a sign for a return to normalcy.

“It went well for the first evening event we’ve had since COVID. We were reluctant because so many people had issues, so we put our toes in the water to see if we could do it,” said Mike Welch, chairman of the Chamber.

Mike Welch, chairman of the East Lee County Chamber of Commerce, and Luis Hernandez, of ValAir, during The East Lee County Chamber of Commerce Fall Fest at EmJay’s on Friday. CHUCK BALLARO

The two-hour long networking event, which is usually named Oktoberfest and held in October, featured Hafenkapelle, the German band from the German American Social Club in Cape Coral, bratwurst, German beer and most important, the more than 40 members of the Chamber who haven’t had the opportunity to socialize like this for nearly two years.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Lehigh Acres Fire District was also there.

Michael Jacobs, of Legal Shield, who put the event together, said the Chamber just wanted to give members a fun night to mix, mingle and network.

“There are a lot of other conflicting events in October that delayed us, so we pushed it back to November,” Jacobs said. “It gets us back in the swing of things, gets us out of COVID and staying indoors, so we’re trying to break us out of that.”

Murielle Lallave, owner of EmJay’s, said this is the second time she has held it and that the event is a great draw for her business.

Ama Whitney and Jonathan Gil dance to the Garman music during The East Lee County Chamber of Commerce Fall Fest at EmJay’s on Friday. CHUCK BALLARO

“I love the event and what it’s about, I love the food and I have learned to cook the food very well when I lived in Germany,” Lallave said. “It’s something different. The regulars love it every year.”

Tonda Lawson, from Brown & Brown Insurance, said the idea was to get local business people back to socializing after COVID, and that they need to break the habit of staying home.

“It’s going to take time to encourage people to get out. It’s a beautiful Florida evening, so it’s a great first step in getting the business community back out,” Lawson said. “It isn’t anything like it has been in the past, but I’m encouraged by the folks who came here.”

Glen Ahlert plays the long “Ricola” horn (called an Alphorn) during The East Lee County Chamber of Commerce Fall Fest at EmJay’s on Friday. CHUCK BALLARO