Making a local list

— Rollie Atkinson
It’s not too early to offer some friendly reminders about how to
add some genuine enjoyment and pocketbook savings to your upcoming
Holiday Season.
It’s a message we deliver several times a year — Shop locally,
join the hometown festivities, support local businesses and avoid
all the bother and stresses of the shopping mall frenzy.
In these tight economic times, there is new meaning to how far
your money should go. More true than ever, the closer you shop to
home, the farther your gift giving budget will spread.
In next week’s issue of the newspaper we will be publishing the
first of two Gift Guides, featuring a selection of local shops,
services and gift suggestions. It also will include a schedule of
local merchant open houses and other holiday events. (We will be
publishing a second Gift Guide on Dec. 10.)
There is much more to do around our hometown during the holidays
than just saving money, gas and precious time. Downtown merchant
groups, the chamber of commerce and local nonprofits will once
again turn on the festive lights, deck our streets and plazas in
seasonal ribbons and greenery and offer grateful yuletide
blessings. Compare that to the crowded malls, ridiculous traffic
and hair-pulling parking.
Next week, on the day after Thanksgiving, we are being urged
(browbeaten) to race to the Big Town malls and giant stores for
“Black Friday.” That’s the day all those Big Boxes merrily ring
their cash registers and cheer their bottom lines. Then they send
all the money back to their corporate centers in Arkansas, Chicago,
New York and other places some of us mistake for the North
Pole.
We know you’ve heard the “shop locally” plea countless times,
both from this locally-owned newspaper and from our local
advertisers. Do you mind if we ask (again) for all of you to put
your hometown merchants, craftspeople, artists and charities at the
top of your holiday gift shopping and planning list?
Thank you. Your Shop Local dollars add all kinds of extra spirit
and joy to the season. These dollars circulate many times
throughout town in the form of local payroll, seasonal jobs, sales
tax revenues and support for our Holiday events including tree
lightings, caroling and a promised visit by Santa Claus.
More than that, the most unique, one-of-a-kind, handmade,
delicious, authentic, generous and traditional gifts can be found
in our smaller shops, art collectives, galleries, kitchens and farm
markets.
With a big family gift list and a smaller budget, how will you
be sharing as much holiday spirit as possible, without distressing
your credit cards?
Do you favor a Christmas and holiday season run on batteries and
made of foreign plastic? If TV commercials tell you a new toy or
electronic gadget is a “must have,” do you crave and cave in? Of
course, you could always do all your gift shopping without leaving
your computer. Amazon and all the other Internet Gremlins
(anti-Elves) make it very easy to click your money away. It’s a
painless way to complete your shopping, but it is also extremely
joyless.
Consider adding these few items to your Holiday Season list:
1) Take a child to visit your hometown Santa Claus.
2) Light a candle at your community’s Holiday Tree Lighting.
3) Put some food in the local canned food drive basket.
4) Visit a local shop you’ve never been to before. You’ll be
surprised what you might find.
5) For your own gift, dine out with a friend at a local
restaurant.
6) If you get the urge to shop away from home, go visit one of
our other small hometowns and Main Streets. You’ll find some new
friendly faces and more locally-owned businesses there, too.
7) Be merry.