Shop Local Saturday

By Nancy Black

Which do you enjoy more? Going to Walmart on a Saturday morning or heading out to the local farmer’s market? If you are like me, you picked the latter.

There is nothing that will fill you with a sense of community more than strolling along through the booths of homemade candles, baked goods and original artwork at a local market. Seeing and meeting all our neighbors who dedicate their lives to bringing something original and engaging into the world fills me with immense pride. And those people are not just at the local markets. They are in our local store fronts, too.

Small businesses make up our community. It may look like the big box stores run the show, but it is not true. Our community is filled with family businesses who rely on their neighbors to keep their doors open. And, as community members, we rely on those mom-and-pop businesses to keep our neighborhoods unique and eclectic.  

Shop Local Saturday is on November 26 this year. Please make it a point to purchase all your holiday gifts from one or more of our local purveyors. Need some sports memorabilia framed? Head to the brand new Legends of the Game store in Lakewood. Is it your job to find a puzzle for the family to work after the big meal on Thanksgiving Day? Look no further than My Office, the neighborhood’s one-stop-shop for fun gifts. Got a skateboarder in your life? The husband-and-wife team at Devotion Skate Company on Northwest Hwy. will make their holiday dreams come true.

Before this year’s Shop Local Saturday, I invite our readers to flip through the pages of this newspaper and make note of all our advertisers. 

Most are small, locally owned and operated businesses. And many of them are offering special discounts for Shop Local Saturday and during the holidays. Stop by and say, “hi.” And tell ’em White Rock Lake Weekly sent you. We’re a small business, too!