"Buy Local" the sign in the window of the print shop says. Sometimes I have trouble buying locally though, like the other day trying to buy a coloring book for Toys for Tots. Is buying from a megastore buying locally? In this gigantic megastore I couldn't even find a clerk...
Karthizer's Hardware was a local store, but the bank bought them out along with four other stores and put in a parking lot over 60 years ago. Same bank bought an entire block for another parking lot. Now the town is working hard to get businesses back downtown. Standing in the middle of this gigantic store I remembered Mr. Karthizer telling my dad after church the tool he needed was in and ready for my dad to pick up Monday. Mr. Karthizer donated toward the building of the new church, like most of the community did. We supported local businesses and they support us. They’d buy uniforms for baseball teams, put up basketball nets, lead scout troops, among many other things.
I'd like to think artists are small businessmen. We donate when asked, if we can. When the basket is passed at church we drop in what we can, we drop food off at the local pantry and when we can find them, we drop coloring books into the Toys For Tots box. Sometimes it is a painting we donate, and sometimes in other ways. Times are so very different now.
