We here at the Spotlight like to think of ourselves as forward thinking, “outside the box” type people. We like adventure, challenges, and truly anything new and exciting. We are going to step out of character for a minute and beg the citizens of Boone County please STAY AT HOME!

We ask this of our loyal readers as they do their back to school shopping and move into holiday shopping.

It is vital to our community that these dollars stay in town. We understand the allure of spending gas money and fighting traffic to get to an overcrowded mall all for the chance to deal with a rude teenager is tough to resist. However, we urge you to fight the tempation to do so.

When it is your job to visit as many retail stores as possible (as we do regularly here at the Spotlight), you find the vast product selection that Harrison has to offer.

In addition to keeping your dollars in our local econmy and saving the money and hassle of traveling, there are also neighbors, fellow church and committee members, and friends waiting to help you in each store.

The selection we enjoy in our town will simply not be there if we do not, at the very least, try shopping local before heading North.

We have made a conscious effort from the start to keep the offers in our publication coming from local businesses. Simply look or listen at our competition and see where the dollars of our community are being lured.

We truly hope that the folks of  Boone County will look to stay home and keep those hard earned dollars working for this community whenever possible.

Trust me, we are acutely aware that the better the retail sales the higher the advertising budgets and the better selection to the consumer. It is the purest definition of a win-win scenario!

In the end, you must find what you need. In many cases in this economy, you must find what you need for the lowest possible price. While sometimes that does not appear to be the case here locally, I can assure you that you get what you pay for in product and service. You also must be sure to remember all of the cost factors such as time and fuel when looking outside of town.