Mattie Sue Thomas turned 90 last week and enjoyed a gathering with family and friends.Her sister Clemie Jane Roquemore is sitting behind her in the picture. Photo by Raydeen Edwards
Imagine waiting for your child to return from a field trip or a sporting event, only to receive a call that the bus carrying your child has been in a serious accident. For too many families, this nightmare has become reality. And because school travel is so frequent, I know it will happen again.
In an age dominated by streaming platforms and digital news outlets, small-town radio stations continue to serve as essential pillars of community life. Far from fading into irrelevance, these stations provide local news, emergency alerts, and a sense of connection that larger media outlets often cannot match.
Shopping locally not only means getting to see the same friendly faces each time you patronize a nearby business, it also means keeping money in your community. A 2018 study from American Express, the company that founded Small Business Saturday (which is celebrated the day after Black Friday), and the National Federation of Independent Business found that roughly two-thirds of every dollar spent at a small business ultimately stays in the local community.
The economic impact of shopping within one’s community is significant. Though estimates vary and are always open to fluctuation, a recent survey from American Express and the National Federation of Independent Business indicated roughly 67 cents out of every dollar spent at a small business remains in the community.