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| It was a quiet day in this city by the lake on Saturday |
“...the truth is that Lake Wobegon
survives to the extent that it does on a form of voluntary socialism
with elements of Deism, fatalism, and nepotism. Free enterprise runs
on self-interest. This is socialism, and it runs on loyalty You need
a toaster, you buy it at Co-op Hardware even though you can get a
deluxe model with all the toaster attachments for less money at
K-Mart in St. Cloud. You buy it at Co-op because you know Otto.”
Garrison Keillor, Lake
Wobegon Days
This past Saturday, I spent about an
hour and a half Christmas shopping in Chetek - and loved it. For
people who know me (like Linda, my wife of 30 years for example) that
sentence should give them pause. Me and shopping go together like oil
and water or like Hillary and the Donald. So what was so great about
my shopping experience this past Saturday? I can sum that up in one
word: people.
Let me clarify. Going to the mall –
any mall – is just something most guys learn to do as a concession
to the greater good. What I mean is that marriage is about give and
take and in my case usually going to a mall is just something I do to
make up for all those times I leave Linda for the day to go hiking
along the Ice Age Trail. It's only fair, right?
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| Charlie enjoys mall-ing way more than I do |
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| Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad |
This past Friday, my 81-year-old
parents from the Madison area who were up for Thanksgiving, wanted to
take their son the mayor Christmas shopping. So that's how I ended up
at Oakwood Mall on Black Friday. Accompanied by my kids (Linda had to
work), we braved the crowds and ultimately my dad, my son, Ed, and I
stood in a seemingly endless line at J.C. Penney to pay for the
goods. I wouldn't call it an unbearable experience. After all, the
three of us talked together for nearly three quarters of an hour
while we slowly inched our way forward to the cashier. Having said
that, however, in some way it felt like we were three guys clinging
to a life preserver surrounded by a sea of unknown survivors of some
catastrophic shipwreck. Okay, so I'm probably exaggerating a bit but
I don't want to go do that again any time soon.
On Saturday, however, my shopping
experience was dramatically different for a number of reasons.
Admittedly, the impetus for venturing around town was motivated
simply by the desire to be a good mayor. It was Small Business
Saturday, after all, and it was important to show support for our
local businesses. But I was soon reminded that shopping right here at
home has a lot of upside to it that cannot be quantified in the
bottom line of your checkbook.
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| They need our support, too! |
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| A leisurely conversation at our very own Chetek Area Museum |
My first stop of the afternoon was at
the Chetek Area Museum. Admittedly, not really a business (they do
sell a small selection of souvenirs, however) I knew that Bill Waite
was the volunteer on duty and since we serve together on the City
Council I thought I would pop in for a short visit. When I walked in
the front door I was greeted warmly by Bill and our neighbor, Patty
Zeis, who was passing the time with him as if they were both sitting
out on the front porch watching the cars drive by on a warm summer's
evening. A lot of folks know Patty. For years she was a volunteer at
Knapp Haven and on her way to the nursing home would usually walk by
our house visiting briefly with Linda or myself or any of the kids
who happened to be out in the yard. Patty's dad, Dr. Al Zeis, was a
dentist back in the day and as she tells it he would play cards with
the guy who used to own our house. “Isn't that the berries?” she
would chuckle. Bill, Patty and I sat in the foyer of the museum as
both of them regaled me with stories of “old” Chetek. After
awhile I meandered into one of the rooms and saw Dr. Zeis' dental
instruments. “Some of those tools used to be in my mouth!” Bill
quipped. It was very pleasant spending a half hour chatting away with
both of them. In fact, the only thing that would have made it
pleasanter was if one of them had offered me a cup of coffee.
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| Once Dr. Zeis used to practice with these |
From there I drove down the street to
the Courtyard, stopping in at Whimsical Wares where, in fact, I have
frequently shopped in the past while Linda and I await our lunch
being prepared at Hope & Anchor. As I opened the door to the
coffee house, however, here was Jodi having coffee with her
mother-in-law, her daughter, Nicole, and Sam, a fellow graduate of
Chetek High School. So I stood there and caught up with these girls
that I remember from their middle school days. Nicole is a dental
hygentist, married and living in Madison while Samantha is a physical
therapist working in Eau Claire. Talk about time flying!
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| I was talking too much that I forgot to take pictures! |
After visiting with them for a bit, I
then ventured into Whimsical Wares which was full of customers, most
of whom I knew. So as I meandered around her little shop, I moved in
and out of brief conversations with several of Wendy's patrons. At
the same time, I noticed a scarf that would look great on our
daughter, Emma, a book that I know our other daughter, Christine,
would enjoy reading to the 1-year-olds she cares for at the day care
where she is employed and some earrings that I think that Linda would
appreciate. At the register, I enjoyed a nice visit with Wendy and
her grandson, Parker, who was learning how to run the thing.
“Parker,” I said to him, “husbands don't usually pay attention
to the right things. When you get a wife one day, make sure you pay
attention and remember her size in clothing. It might be important
one day.” Parker looks to me to be a young teenager and a long way
away from having a wife. But to his credit he demonstrated one of the
first rules of working in retail: always humor the customer.
Following my little shopping spree
there I moved on down Second Street and turned onto Douglas and
stopped at Carpe Diem, a store I confess I had never been into
before. Here too the shop was full of people I knew and so I repeated
the same routine I had already done twice before in the last hour: I
moved slowly around the store and passed the time with several of
their customers while noticing a wonderful shawl that I think will
look great on Emma. I noticed that Kendyl Johnson was in Carpe Diem
as well. Kendyl's older sister, Kayln, ran Cross for me this past
fall and Kendyl herself ran middle school track for us last spring.
What I did not know is that she is also a young enterprising young
lady who has a selection of earrings she has made which can be bought
exclusively at Carpe Diem. Who knew? I bought a pair that I thought
would go with the shawl and bought them both.
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| Char's been at it a long time! |
From there I drove back up Second
Street to Char's at the corner of Dallas and Third Streets. She's got
the little place across from Horton's with the child mannequins
outside her door that some folks in town find a bit creepy. In any
case, Char's little place was full as well – and yes, once again I
knew most of her shoppers as well (as a matter of fact, Jodi and her
crew that I had hobnobbed a bit with at Hope & Anchor were now
doing a little after-coffee shopping themselves). Char has a
wonderful selection of Chetek hoodies, crew and t-shirts as well as
all kinds of crafty things. Because it was Small Business Saturday, I
got 25% off the Christmas stuff she was selling. I picked up a hoodie
for our son, Ed, a lavender crew shirt for Christine (she loves
purple) and a little snowman in a globe that when you turn the little
switch lights up in various LED colored lights.
Some time during my gad about town I
received a text from Linda: “Where are you?” to wit I replied,
“Shopping.” At first she thought I was being sarcastic but when I
insisted that she had actually caught me in the act, she replied:
“But you don't even like shopping.” “I know,” I replied, “but
I do now” (wink emoji).
In Chetek we don't have a Best Buy or a
Target or, heaven forbid it, a Walmart. Nope, you have to drive north
or south aways to find those magnets of holiday shoppers. But we've
got the one and only Chetek Bakery where besides your pastries you
can now enjoy fresh soup served up in a bread bowl if you want it
that way. We have the aforementioned Whimsical Wares, Carpe Diem and
Char's. There's Rod and Gun Sport Shop, Time & Again as well as
Horton's Hardware, Gordy's and Family Dollar. We may not have it all
but we also don't have long lines and unfriendly cashiers. And we've
got company. Lots of company. So, if you haven't started your
Christmas shopping as far as I'm concerned right here at home is a
good place to start it.
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| For a guy like me with a shopping phobia, that's a pretty good haul |
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