It Happened
It happened. The holidays are here. Thanksgiving came and went faster than a warm apple pie. To make sure you knew it was over, we all were inundated with Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails, social media posts, and stories on the news. The 2025 holiday shopping bonanza has begun!
It is easy to get caught up in the frenzy of holiday shopping, especially when our emails are filled with enticing savings if we ‘purchase on-line before midnight’. But we lose a personal touch in the frenzy. In the midst of Thanksgiving weekend was “Small Business Saturday,” meant to encourage buying local and supporting small businesses. It is understandable if you did not know.
Larger stores have larger budgets and the ability to make sure their marketing messaging is getting to you easily. What that means for us is that if we want to “buy local” we need to work a little harder at it. But it is worth it.
Buying local and supporting small businesses is at the core of our local economy, and is such an important part of what makes New Canaan, well…New Canaan. If we did not have stores such as The Whitney Shop, Elm Street Books, Franco’s, and many others, the feel of our community would be very different indeed.
This time of year, there are many events going on to help us ring in the holiday season.
New Canaan’s downtown is magical all year long. It is like no other in Fairfield County. During the holidays it takes on a kind of Currier and Ives persona. This past weekend it was alive with the annual Holiday Stroll. It reminds us that when we come together as a community, we are all a little nicer, a little softer; we smile more and say hello.
And there is the tradition of coming together to sing carols on Christmas Eve on God’s Acre around the town Christmas Tree. This tradition was started by John Hersam in 1919. He also founded the New Canaan Advertiser in 1908. You cannot get more community than a tradition that has been around for 106 years.
These are just two perfect examples of our vibrant, small, and local community – without them, we would not have such festive activities to look forward to. Buying local lets each of us determine what kind of a community we want to live in. Throughout town there are local deli’s and coffee shops that are the bedrock of that part of our community. If we did not have them, where would we go?
Before you sit down at your computer or pull up a website on your phone, think to yourself “can I get that perfect gift from a local business here in town?” Chances are you can. It may mean a little more effort to get the store, but it is an investment in our community.
The are many small and local businesses throughout New Canaan. They are owned by our neighbors, friends, people who we go to church with, and they need our support throughout the year, but especially this holiday season.
As you go about town purchasing your holiday gifts (and remembering to buy local) keep in mind that the perfect gift is not always the most expensive, but can be the most useful. Perhaps because we have a young wizard in our home we recently came across this quote from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: “One can never have enough socks,” said Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.”
Enjoy these last days before Christmas and Hanukah. Enjoy family, friends, fire place games, good restaurants, but most of all enjoy one another.
