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About a year ago I began writing this column. I had written a column before, when I was serving as Mayor of Kearny, in which I endeavored to keep people apprised of town happenings and give everyone a “heads up” when something important was taking place. Along the Gila has a broader focus which is to write about events in this area stretching from San Manuel and Oracle to Kelvin and Superior.
Sam Hosler
Even though I have not met my own hopes for the column, I am gratified with the reception it has received and I am thankful to everyone who has helped keep me current on happenings in the area. A year ago I renewed a pledge I had made to myself to shop locally and support our local business community. The renewed pledge has been met successfully. Except for four instances during long trips around Arizona, all my gasoline has been purchased in Kearny, Winkelman, or Mammoth. Norm’s IGA in Kearny has met 95% of my culinary needs, and the flower shop and delicatessen meet my desires. I switched all my prescriptions (save one) to the Kearny Health Mart with no appreciable increase in expense, and enjoy having wise and caring pharmacists to talk with. The NAPA store has saved me hundreds of dollars. ACE Hardware almost always meets my hardware needs. I don’t eat out as much as some people, but I prefer local options to fast food of any kind, and I like not having to drive miles to eat a meal.
I did very well until Christmas shopping popped up, and I was fearful that Phoenix or Tucson would be my only options. But, just as we had Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Wards catalogues in my small town childhood, so today we have online shopping. It’s fast, cheaper than a trip to smog-infested Phoenix, and it supports our local post office too.
My shopping locally hurt the big box stores and the malls in urban Arizona, I am sure. But my local shopping meant that my dollar accomplished more good in the community, for the taxes I paid were local, the local stores made more money, local people gained employment and they, too, paid taxes locally and bought items locally. If a dollar is spent locally, it benefits many people.
Take the local shopping pledge. No, not everything is here. But as Garrison Keillor wrote about the fictitious Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery in Lake Woebegon, “If we don’t have what you need, you probably didn’t need it anyway.” And, I may add, if you shop locally you will find that more is available than you realized.
On to other things. Rabid coyotes and foxes have shown up in Tucson, Oro Valley, Mammoth, Dudleyville, Kearny and Kelvin recently. Arizona Game and Fish posted a warning to watch for animals in unusual places or acting unusually. Keep your animals under watch, and make sure that they have been inoculated.
The coffee pot is on every morning at the Copper Basin Chamber of Commerce. Stop in to see Director Veronica Bracamonte and to share ideas for the area.
Personally, I am taking a sabbatical of six months or so to care for my health. I’m now on fewer committees and such, but I hope that this time off will let me come back refreshed and ready for more. This column will continue, though, at least until you quit reading it!
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