Thanksgiving, Christmas, Shopping, and Deer

Next week is Thanksgiving. Faux celebrities are all over the television in commercials telling us what we need to buy and especially where we need to buy THE GIFT.

And just so we know that they are talking to us “average buyers,” these faux celebs are seen stocking shelves and working in the said stores.

These commercials began airing before Halloween, just a tad early for me. But for me the true test of when the holiday season begins is when you hear your first Christmas song on the car radio or in a store.

I heard Gene Autry singing “Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer” over the loud speaker in a store last week. Mr. Awtry, of course, had a long career in films and baseball and has now passed on, but to me his greatest legacy is my favorite Christmas song, “Rudolph.”

As a child I had a “red” 78 record of this song. 78’s are hard to explain to the modern generation since they think 45 records are DVDs. Anyhoo, the holidays as they are now known are here.

“Black Friday” is next week. Really that Friday should be called something else besides black like, “limited stock, unlimited buyer day,” but that terminology means the retailer is hoping his books will stop bleeding red as a loss and now start showing a profit and be “in the black.”

And speaking of shopping and spending money…This year spend locally, benefit locally. Why not do your shopping in your hometown and county?

Your dollars spent here will help employ some of us, bring in more tax revenue to fund your schools, roads, and other public projects, and keep our businesses open.

Stay home and shop, save time, gasoline, you don’t have to fight for a parking place or stand in a checkout line forever. You can also get rare personal service at our stores. When was the last time you found some help in one of the big box stores?

Our local businesses depend on us and vice versa and the next time you think you need to go elsewhere to buy, think locally instead.
If you attended the Deer Festival, then you saw hundreds of people on the square on a Saturday, buying, spending money locally, benefitting Jasper County in one way or another.

And while riding in your sleigh this season remember to watch out for those white tails and Rudolph, the one with the shiny red nose, it is SUPER deer season in Jasper County, Deer Capital of the World or at least Our World.