Shop Locally

Good evening sweet friends.

Its been a bit nippy these past few days.

We are under a frost warning for the rest of the week.

Our little town has urged the store owners

to place signs in our windows to remind everyone 

to shop local.

Little towns like ours were a buzz in activity

until they met their demise in the 60's

with the onset of shopping malls.

Folks forgot about their local hometown stores,
and thus the small town charm fell to the wayside.
Shops closed and stores remained vacant.

Then came the re-vitalization folks
that paid 3 of the 5 river towns by us
to demolish for free their downtown buildings.
In hindsight, these towns would not have
done this if it were all to do again.
Now here in Michigan,
folks want to shop downtowns again.
The big malls are now re-inventing this concept
with outdoor shops instead of all under one roof.

Where our store is located, we are one of the towns
that refused the re-vitalization folks.
So glad they did.
Our store is in an 1800's building, and we love it.

I also love my most recent nine patch quilt
that I placed on our bench.

Why I brought up the shop local bit,
is because I purchased this early teddy local.
Local meaning in our own store.
I spotted this lil bear in one of our vendors booths.

Also these cool looking children's blocks.
I added my cute lil raggedy that
Fran from the BaggLady gave me in a swap.
Dont they look cute together?

Close up of the blocks.

They all are now loving being on the bench.
It does pay to shop local..even if it is in your own store.

Shop Local Blessings To All!
Janice