When you think about it, it’s kind of impressive just how many stores there are in downtown Athabasca and Boyle.
With Friday’s Moonlight Madness, this seems like a good time to remind everyone that the stores in town do sell almost everything that the stores in the city do (Boyle isn’t holding a Moonlight Madness this year, but the point still stands).
There’s a pretty high turnover of stores in the small communities of the Advocate region.
Over the past year we’ve seen quite a few stores come and go — some of them with little to no warning. Most of the stores are owned and operated locally and all of the stores are staffed locally.
So, it’s usually friends and neighbours who’ll have problems if more people decide to do their Christmas shopping elsewhere.
Granted, it is true that sometimes that one thing that you’re looking for is only available in another town or in the city.
But, it doesn’t hurt to at least try to go stores around town.
Similar to how the community stands together when something goes wrong, it’s a rather good time to stand together and help support the local businesses.
Remember that dollars spent here, stay here. Scan through the thank-you ads on the pages of the Advocate on any given week and you’ll see that local businesses are the ones supporting a variety of worthwhile local causes.
Of course that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The taxes these businesses pay keep our streets paved and schools and hospitals open. It goes without saying that one of the major keys to a strong community is a healthy business sector.
In this rather unstable economic climate, it only makes sense to help keep the employment of our neighbours intact. Times are tough — as it really only became even more obvious with the shutdown of Millar West in Boyle — and it doesn’t look like there’s much of a light at the end of the tunnel coming anytime soon.
It doesn’t hurt for everyone to play their part, even if it’s just a small one, to keep the economy going and shop locally.
On Friday, have fun going see Santa, watching the fireworks and the parade, but remember the point of Moonlight Madness. Shop locally and support your friends and neighbours and help make these economic times a little bit easier for someone.
