Huron Expositor, 2007-12-05, Page 4Page 4 December 5, 2007 • The Huron Expositor
Opinion
Proprietor and Publisher, Bowes Publishers Limited, 11 Main St., Seaforth, ON, NOK 1W0
Shopping at home
keeps community
healthy
The busy shopping season we know as Christmas
is well underway all around us. Has been for some
time, actually.
This season is a critical time of year for retailers,
representing a large portion of their annual sales.
Before you decide to head out of town to shop, or
even across the border with the mighty U.S. green-
back lower than or at par with our loonie, ask your-
self some basic questions.
Am I getting something I could purchase locally?
Am I being fair to the businesses that support
me, my children, my clubs and my community all
year?
First, do the math - add up your travel and
accommodation costs and compare it with what
you'll save. Don't you think many out-of-town or
cross-border shoppers are enduring incredible
inconvenience and finding empty shelves and rip-
offs?
Another important equation, at least in terms of
the U.S. dollar and the rise of our loonie, is that
whether local retailers are locally -owned or nation-
al chains, all of them are trying to react as quickly
as they can to an unprecedented situation.
They are being asked to sell their products for
less than they paid for them, and -yet are still
expected to pay their employees, taxes, rent, heat
and hydro, give to charities, and sponsor teams and
special events.
Ask yourself what kind of community you want
to live in. Festivals and events, services provided
by both charities and governments would be gutted
or non-existent without the taxes and donations
from the business community.
When you get right down to it, there isn't an
activity that goes on without support from local
business.
Any idea how many out-of-town or cross-border
businesses support you?
Zero.
Surprised?
So ask yourself :another question: Who do you
suppose will be hurt if you don't support our local
businesses? That's right - you.
This holiday season, shop local. We need to stick
together.
The Mitchell Advocate
Your Community N.wspapor since 1860
E-mail us at seaforth@bowesnet.com
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www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com
(14
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A community should hold dear
to its distinguishing landmarks
I was a little disappointed to
learn the community (If
Brussels recently opted to
build a new library rather
than refurbish the long -serv-
ing, and architecturally splen-
did Andrew Carnegie branch
that has served the communi-
ty since 1910.
Oh granted, I give Huron East council
kudos for the,way it handled the issue. After
all, it's hard to argue the municipality is
heading in the wrong direction when it's the
general public that is pointing out the route.
And yet, I can't help but get a twinge at the
notion of it, especially since the tired argu-
ment of building a new library is only slightly
more costly than renovating the old one is a
kind of a naive one since I'm willing to wager
one basset hound that there is no way in the
world a new building is coming in at the pro-
jected $800,000ish cost -- unless, of course,
it's the size of one of those old Kodak film -
processing booths.
More importantly, I'm also willing to hedge
a hound on another bet. That is, the new site,
as spiffy and spanky clean as it may be, will
not serve the community for 97 years as the
red-bricker has done.
Yes, I suppose I sound all persnickety and
stuff and, perhaps, I even sound a little antsy
around that enormous, neon -coloured word
on the horizon that reads, Change.
But, that's not the case.
Rather, I am a firm believer that a commu-
nity should hold dear to the landmarks that
make it stand out from its
neighbours.
Would Goderich be the same
without the courthouse square?
Would Bayfield draw tourists
by the wagonload full if it had
not preserved the historic
shops along the main drag?
For that matter, would Clinton
have its funky groove if the town hall had
been razed in favour of a ranch -style office
complex?
And, where would Seaforth be without its
historic streetscape on Main Street?
Then again, it may be difficult to see things
in contrast as to how they appear. That being
said, I often wonder why that big beautiful
development in St. Joseph's was torn down
when it could've undoubtedly fetched bazil-
lions of dollars today as some sort of living
quarters.
I wonder, too, why the once gorgeous
Clinton post office, replete with handy bell,
was done away with for that shoeboxy thing
that serves the public today.
I mean, surely the building's mortgage had
been long since paid off?
There have been many road trips, including
the one me and the hubby took to northern
Ontario in the spring, that hammered home
just how much homogenization rips the char-
acter from communities and renders them as
cookie -cutter images of other towns and
cities, nationwide.
See THE, Page 20
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