Welcome to Great Lakes Go Local!

A Go Local Campaign, Trade Group, and Community Currency All Rolled Into One!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

A Story About Today

In today’s economy, we are all looking for a way to provide our businesses and families with the things they need. We search the ads looking for deals and any way possible to make that dollar stretch just a little further. No matter how hard we tug on that dollar, it just doesn’t seem to be going quite as far as it used to.

Have you ever wondered what happened to that cute little store in the center of town that used to stand so proudly with customers streaming in and out of it, patrons purchasing things that they not only needed but had a longing for? Empty store fronts line the town’s intersections crying out to be filled once more. The town’s people fill their heads with ideas on how to save the store fronts but have no money to make those dreams come alive. Things used to be so much easier for the growing community. Now, weeds grow on sidewalks that used to be filled with buying power. It’s time for a change.

I remember my sisters and I getting a dollar each to go down to the corner store to buy candy. In those days, a dollar went much further. The excitement we had. We walked quickly to the store and spent many minutes searching the huge display of candy for the many pieces that we were going to buy. The owner of the store always had a smile on his face as we entered. He would stand with us and help us fill our bags with lots of goodies. Though he was a busy man, he always found time to entertain us.

The walk home was much slower than our brisk walk to that corner store. We checked out what each one of us had purchased and sometimes traded a piece of candy with each other. Though some of the candy was gone by the time we finally made it home, we would show our parents what we had purchased and often offered them a piece. Even though we had just returned home from that corner store, we could not wait to get another dollar and go back.

I have fond memories, throughout my childhood, of that fine corner store. Today, that store is empty. Though the building still stands, the parking lot is full of weeds and the windows are boarded up. I go past that corner store almost every day. I often think of what enjoyment my kids would have had if they had the opportunity to walk down to that same corner store and buy some candy. They would need to have more than a dollar in order to buy the same amount of candy that my sisters and I would get, but they too could have the same memories.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mothers and Fathers, Grandmas and Grandpas, it is time to re-create those days for our children. It is time that they get to experience the same memories that we hold so dear. Here on our website, we at Great Lakes Go Local will share ideas on how, together, we can regain these opportunities for our children.