In the News...
Live
Local? Love Local? SHOP LOCAL FIRST this Holiday Season!
Published
December 2009 in Central Oregon Family News
The
stickers and marquees all over Central Oregon proselytize:
“make local habit.” “Yes We Are Shopping
Locally.” “Live Local-Buy Local” But
what does it all mean? Is it just hype?
When you stop to think about it, you realize just how
much shopping locally enhances the livability of our
community, as well as the stability and diversity of
our local economy. It also supports the prosperity of
both independent, locally owned businesses and brick-and-mortar
franchises and chain stores through increasing awareness
about the personal, community, and economic benefits
of choosing local first. Of course we can’t always
buy everything we need from locally-owned businesses,
but if everyone in Deschutes County purchased just one
more item locally when they shopped, the effects would
be tremendous. An Austin, TX economic impact analysis
demonstrated that if a consumer spends $100 at a chain
store, only $13 will stay in the local economy. However,
if they choose a local merchant, $45 stays local! More
than three times the amount! Your shopping choices truly
make a significant impact on our local economy.
“Make local habit” has become a familiar
phrase to many in Bend, Oregon since Whitney Blackman
of Sparrow Bakery started printing the square, dark
blue stickers in May 2008 and distributing them at cost
via her bakery and farmer’s market booth. Pretty
soon the stickers started appearing on many local independent
retailers and car bumpers all around town. Ms. Blackman
explains the concept: “Make Local Habit is a campaign
to encourage local buying and educate community members
on the economical benefits of doing so. This campaign
is not partial to any particular business or cause;
as long as the business is owned by a central Oregonian
and has no franchise locations outside of Central Oregon
it is welcome to post a Make Local Habit sticker at
their place of business; community members are encouraged
to show their vote of support for local by sticking
a sticker on their car or bike.”
LIVING LOCAL: A Community Coupon Book for Central Oregon
“offers consumers cash incentives to shop locally—close
to 150 coupons from more than 100 local merchants ranging
from restaurants and coffee shops to bookstores, museums,
health & beauty, recreation outfitters, and more!
The book was conceived as a fundraiser project for The
Waldorf School of Bend that would…while giving
back to the community at large—both its businesses
and its citizens,” explains Claire Spampinato,
project director. “The coupon books make a thoughtful
gift that stretches one’s income during these
tight economic times, while also supporting our local
economy” says Spampinato. “And the book
easily pays for itself with one or two coupons.”
Selling for $20 at 15 local outlets, proceeds benefit
The Waldorf School of Bend, a non-profit school serving
Central Oregon children from preschool through middle
school. Visit www.livinglocalbook.org for more information
and vendor locations.
The “Yes we are-shopping locally” campaign,
and its patriotic stickers, were created by the Deschutes
Democrats as a non-partisan community development program
designed to support local employment and area businesses.
As Connie Kennard, Past President of the Boyd Acres
Neighborhood Association puts it, “It’s
time to be in line before going online” when it
comes to purchasing the goods and services we need as
residents, businesses and government entities. The campaign
invites residents, community-based organizations, business
groups and the religious community to join the movement.
“Yes we are-shopping locally” stickers are
available to demonstrate support for our local workforce
and business community.
“This is bigger than any political party. When
we shop locally,” said Mike Schmidt, Past President
and CEO of the Bend Chamber and campaign project manager,
“we benefit our local economy; support local employment;
help ensure business stability, growth and expansion;
underwrite our local tax base; and help reduce unemployment.
With a total annual payroll in Deschutes County exceeding
$2.5 billion, we can do a lot to help turn around our
current economic condition by shopping locally.”
The point of all these campaigns is to encourage people
to Live Local First, that is, to choose locally owned
businesses when choosing where to buy goods and services.
But the “shop local” buzz isn’t just
local. A regional and national economic movement including
Portland, Seattle, Fort Collins, Salt Lake City, Chicago,
Austin, Buffalo and Boston have thriving local living
economies and are members of the national group BALLE,
the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (www.livingeconomies.org).
We know we can help local thrive in Central Oregon,
because the movement has begun! Downtown Bend’s
Chuck Arnold has composed a tagline for Downtown Bend:
“Keep it real. Keep it Local. Keep it Downtown.”
Brent Grenfell of Dana Signs in Redmond began printing
his own stickers which read “Live Local- Buy Local.”
Local merchants are adding “shop local”
ideas to their advertisements and marquees. Tina Davis,
owner of Camalli Book Company, prints advertisements
about The 3/50 Project (www.the350project.net), which
encourages consumers to “Pick 3 (independent businesses),
spend 50 (dollars each month). Save your local economy.”
We are all co-dependent with our community, land, and
businesses. Supporters of the shop local movements want
to do our part in supporting Central Oregon, and hope
you will be conscious of your choices this holiday season
to help keep Central Oregon thriving socially, economically,
and environmentally. Live Local First!
'Local'
Coupon coupon book raises money for Waldorf School,
Bend Bulletin 5/2/2009
“Living Local: A Community Coupon
Book for Central Oregon,” a fundraiser for the
Waldorf School of Bend, will be available for purchase
beginning today at the school’s May Faire Festival.
The book, which costs $20, contains 150 coupons from
local merchants and is designed to help build an economically
stable and socially sustainable community in Central
Oregon by keeping dollars in the area, according to
organizers. Coupons will not expire until November 2010,
giving book owners a full 18 months of savings.
The book will be available for purchase at several
Bend locations including at the festival, the Waldorf
School (63175 O.B. Riley Road), VisitBend (917 N.W.
Harriman St.), the Tower Theatre (835 N.W. Wall St.)
and the Des Chutes Historical Museum (129 N.W. Idaho
Ave.).
Contact: 541-330-8841 or www.living localbook.org.
It's
not every day you get to say 'Hurray for May!"
Bend Bullein 5/4/2009
As a soft mist fell from clouds floating
overhead, a small group of children picked up long red
and white ribbons tied to a tall wooden pole and began
to dance and sing, weaving the ribbons into a checkerboard
pattern at the top of the pole.
Nearby, a few musicians sat on hay bales, strumming
guitars, while children wearing crowns made of willows
joined in on flutes. Around the dancers, parents and
teachers stood in a circle, some singing along to the
music.
The performance, which took place outside the Waldorf
School of Bend, was the kickoff of a daylong event featuring
food, music and activities ranging from face painting
to rock-wall climbing. Held each year on the first Saturday
in May, the private school’s May Faire Festival
is a family-oriented celebration of spring that usually
attracts more than 100 people from around Central Oregon.
Though the free event was open to the public, most
of those in attendance were Waldorf teachers, students
and parents. Some parents, including Claire Spampinato,
39, of Bend, said the festival provides a unique opportunity
for families to join together for low-key activities
that are all about creativity, rather than consumerism.
“One of the main emphases of the school is that
it’s not commercial — it’s all homemade,
natural fun,” said Spampinato, who has a preschooler
at Waldorf.
Paul Carlson, the school’s ad- ministrator, said
Waldorf’s 75 students spend a lot of time learning
about nature and the outdoors, so the May Faire celebration
provides a way for them to share some of the experience
with their parents, siblings and other members of the
community. He said the Maypole dance — a spring
tradition in many European countries — is also
a tradition at other Waldorf schools around the country.
“We’re honoring spring,” he said.
“We’re very connected to the Earth, and
we have a respect for the seasons and a respect for
Mother Earth.”
After the dancers completed their performance, visitors
to the festival sampled food and browsed tables of handmade
crafts. In one area, a few children tried their hand
at making wreaths from fresh flowers.
As she helped her 12-year-old daughter, Mikayla, pin
carnations to a wreath, Jennifer Mormance, 40, of Bend,
said the festival is something her family looks forward
to every year. Mormance said her daughter doesn’t
attend school at Waldorf, but she likes the event’s
focus on simple, low-tech crafts and activities.
“Maybe ‘unplugged’ is the best way
to describe it,” she said.
Brian Caldwell, 32, of Bend, was also working on a
flower wreath with his 5-year-old daughter, Lily, who
is in kindergarten at Waldorf. Caldwell said he also
appreciates the idea of families getting together outdoors
to celebrate the changing seasons.
“For me, it’s like getting back to nature,”
he said.
A few of the school’s older students were manning
tables covered with handmade crafts for sale. Fifth-grader
Emma Belden, 11, was selling beaded sun catchers and
pencil sketches of animals she’d done in her free
time. Emma said she was excited about running a craft
booth for the first time and about participating in
some of the festival’s other activities.
“There’s so many fun things, and mostly
you don’t have to pay for everything,” she
said.
Students said the festival is something they look forward
to every year. And every year, several said, it gets
a little bit easier to do the event’s signature
activity, the Maypole dance.
“It takes a little while, but once you get the
hang of it, it’s pretty easy,” said Briley
Johnson, 12, of Bend. “It’s just up and
down, up and down.”
Erin Golden can be reached at 541-617-7837 or at egolden@bendbulletin.com.
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