Think Small on March 29

Throughout our lives, we’ve been encouraged to Think Big, especially when it comes to plans, aspirations, creative endeavors, and the like. But every year on March 29, we take a moment to Think Small, to support our local community.

How do we do that, you ask? Well, March 29 is National Mom & Pop Business Owners Day, when we celebrate the entrepreneurs in our communities, who have had the big dreams to open their own small businesses.

Nearly every industry is represented by a small business: restaurants, grocery stores, drug stores, bookstores, plant nurseries, and other retail establishments. A “Mom-and-Pop” is identified usually by having a single location, or a handful of locations in a particular region that are owned or operated by a single person or family.

According to the United States Small Business Administration, mom-and-pop businesses number more than 27 million, and account for more than 70% of all new jobs.

Of course, the last two years have found people turning often to online or big-box stores, for the convenience of delivery or curbside pickup of products without having to leave home, which makes Mom-and-Pop Business Owners Day 2022 important to the survival of small businesses and their impact on our local communities.

Are you ready to participate? Here are a few ways you can do so:

• When you’re driving or strolling through your community, take note of the small businesses and opt to support them rather than an online or corporate-owned retailer.
• Purchase a gift – or gift certificate – from a locally owned business, for a unique product or experience.
• Attend a play or concert at a local park or theatre.
• Share your experience by telling friends, either in-person, or on social media. (“Tag” the business if you post online.)
• Call or write to the business to let them know how much you enjoyed the experience. It will make their day!

In 2007, award-winning author, Barbara Kingsolver, and her family documented their experience in this matter. After inheriting a family farm, Kingsolver and her husband, Stephen Hopp, and their two daughters moved from their home in Tucson to the farm in southern Appalachia, and decided to “live locally,” eating food grown and raised on their farm or within 100 miles of home. 

The result was a learning experience, recounted in the book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (Barbara Kingsolver, Stephen L. Hopp, and Camille Kingsolver, 2007), in which they became more connected not only to their food, but to their community.

It’s why we move to a Windsong community, after all: to enjoy our homes, our neighbors, and the community in which we live. We have the time to garden, to gossip (in a good way!), and to get back to the art of living locally. (By the way, Windsong is a small, locally owned business, too!)

Welcome to Windsong, Where Life’s A Breeze!