The day after Thanksgiving Day generally launches us into the Christmas shopping madness season. Many stores across the land opened at 5 a.m. Friday. Some stores even pushed their early openings to 4 a.m.

Holiday gift giving and shopping are a fun and rewarding time for many. During this holiday season we encourage you to do two things: Shop at your locally owned hometown store and remember those who are less fortunate by supporting your favorite charity.

The rewards of shopping at locally owned stores in your hometown are many. The dollars you spend here stay here and are invested back into the community to support many programs that make small town living worthwhile. Those out of town folks don’t often sponsor the athletic teams or manage the worthwhile programs that take place right here in Rush County.

Give your local merchant a chance to find the item you think is only available in the big city. You may be surprised to find that it is available and there’s not much price difference when you consider your travel and the time you invested in going out of town.

Supporting local charities at this time of the year gives back to your neighbor that may be in need.

Shopping and donating locally is your best investment in continuing to make your community vibrant and worth living in.