What’s on your Christmas list?
Dear Santa,
We don’t want to get into the naughty and nice thing too much. We’re pretty sure most of the people hereabouts have been nice. We’re not so sure about some of our government officials. But the last things any of us need are big stacks of coal staring at us from in front of government offices.
What we, your loyal believers, need most is some good, old-fashioned Christmas spirit. And as you well know, Christmas spirit starts at home. The problem is, as you look around, our community hasn’t come together as well as it could to emphasize how each of us can find Christmas gifts right here in River City instead of having to swim upstream through the crowds at distant big box stores and online retailers.
Communities become communities when they clearly take care of all their own needs. Yes, that includes having such things as multiple restaurants that are reliably open, but it also means local businesses emphasizing what they could do to contribute to letting you buy meaningful Christmas gifts for loved ones and friends.
The gifts are there in some cases. And I don’t mean at chain dollar stores. Many little stores — the ones who keep our economy alive — offer interesting potential Christmas gifts.
We’re not saying everyone will want to get a $5 discount on a gift subscription or buy some auto accessory from a parts store. But you can buy gift trays from local food stores, various items from local pharmacies, gift certificates from services like massage therapists, artsy items from a variety of stores, and vintage goods from others.
That’s hardly a complete list. Give the gift of bowling, of a lunch or dinner out, of various pastries, of a power tool for those who would appreciate it, even a preloaded debit card for those you can’t identify any other gift for. The list goes on. It’s as if local merchants have surrendered to Wal-Mart and Amazon and don’t even want to advertise that they have things you can buy locally — and support the local community in the process — instead of padding billionaires’ overstuffed pockets.
That’s dangerous. One of the biggest reasons our community can’t attract the type of folks we’d want to come here is that they look at our economy and don’t see opportunities to take care of all their business right here at home. Instead, we attract people who want to rely on our generosity — which is considerable and necessary — to provide sustenance for those who say they can’t afford it.
It’s not just that we have to have opportunities to purchase creative gifts at places other than small-scale home businesses that exist on small-scale publicity among handfuls of social media friends. We need to celebrate and advertise the opportunities available not just for people who live here but for those who live nearby or regularly visit some of our resort areas.
It’s true we sponsor various events that seem to focus on such opportunities, but like too many events, they often seem more focused on creating a day of entertainment for parents and children rather than a day of sales for merchants.
We are a party-focused community. Why else does Marion license five different drinking establishments — one for every 385 residents. That’s more bars per capita than in Green Bay, Wisconsin, long acknowledged as having the nation’s most bars per person.
Parties are fine, but only the Kardashians seem to get stronger on the basis of how hearty they party. So, please, Santa, bring us the type of old-fashioned common sense that let us for years promote a cohesive community rather than one just of bedrooms and party venues. Bring us the gift of knowing how to market our community.
We’ll leave out a copy of our special Dear Santa section, being published two days early next week, along with maybe some locally baked cookies and perhaps even an energy drink.
We hope you can bring us what we need, not just what we want. And, please, we really don’t need heaps of coal on every street corner — though perhaps the coal might help patch a pothole or two.
— ERIC MEYER