As residents gear up for the holiday season,there will be gatherings of friends, neighbors, and co-workers and other public events at churches and temples. The Oakland Public Events Committee will be sponsoring the Holiday Lighting Ceremony on December 7th, 6pm, at Veteran’s Park. The high school chorus will be singing during the procession with Santa as he leads everyone over to Valley Middle School for some lite refreshments and additional song. Rain, sleet or snow will not derail the delivery of this event, and residents can proceed directly to the VMS cafeteria in inclement weather.
The social pleasures of the season will also be accompanied by the pressures of holiday preparations and the annual shopping expenditures. It is a good time to remember the benefits of shopping locally, and the community of people who own, operate, or manage the many businesses in Oakland. The economic crisis in America makes conscious consuming that much more imperative in determining the quality of life in a local neighborhood, and where residents shop, where they eat and have fun — all of it makes a community home. Every study and survey confirms that local businesses provide substantial support to local charities and civic organizations-usually giving more than double the amount of their corporate cousins; they also keep the money local.
To quote Will Rogers, “It’s not what you pay a man, but what he costs you that counts”, and residents should take that into consideration during the holiday shopping season when spending dollars in the local economy. Besides the strong support for civic organizations, local businesses are more likely to re-circulate money in the community by purchasing goods or services from other local businesses. Many of the small businesses in Oakland are owned by people who are invested in the community’s future, and often hire people who share that same understanding. The local businesses are an integral part of the distinctive character of Oakland, an important part of the social fabric.
There is a often a need when shopping in bulk to visit a major retailer to realize substantial savings, but those big stores do not have a monopoly on low prices. It is obvious to any savvy shopper that there may be good savings on one item, but a considerable mark-up on other items that are available locally.
Residents should practice conscious consuming and realizing that making an effort to think local first has enormous benefits to the community. Oakland offers a great diversity of shopping, services, and dining, but there’s no expectation that in today’s world residents will limit all their purchases to the local general store. There is a need though for residents to practice ethical consumerism, to put thought behind the value of their money, to measure not only in dollars and cents, but measure in the quality of their lives, the benefits to the community, and to think local.
The Oakland Journal invites readers to learn about some of the different businesses in town and visit our sponsor page; click on any name to view a whole profile. Also, readers should note December 4th when neighboring Wyckoff will be holding a Home-For-The-Holiday’s event