It's mid-November on the Sunshine Coast, and that can only mean one thing - bazaar and craft fair time.
I don't know about you, but those homey sales are something I look forward to all year. I know I'll see my friends and neighbours and those wonderful artists everywhere. And that means a lot to me.
It means my daughters-in-law will probably have one more Coast-made necklace to add to their collection. My sons might end up with some tasty snacks, chocolates for my chocoholic youngest son and some kind of savoury goodies for the other two.
Now you may be thinking, so what? Who cares about your Christmas list? Fair enough. But here's what I think. If everyone who lives on the Coast went out of their way to support local artists and businesses, we would all benefit. The artists themselves, for the most part, are home-based businesses and would have more cash to spend locally on frills such as groceries and clothing. Local (bigger) businesses would be busier and would require more workers, who in turn could buy more local artists' wares.
And I know of at least one homeowner on the Coast who agrees with me.
When I met with Bill Good last week to interview him for the article in today's paper, the only thing he asked me to include in the story, if possible, was his support of local artists and tradespeople. And while that information didn't fit with the way that article meandered, it fits here.
Good has on his walls paintings by Carol LeFave and Anita Lindblom (and by his wife Georgy Good, he joked), all local residents and all terrific artists.
His house is beautiful, a tribute to the homebuilding artists who erected it five years ago. It's a point of pride with the Goods that they employed local people. They feel, as I do, that if you take care of your neighbours, your community will be not only wealthier and stronger but also happier.
None of us likes to worry about where our next meal is coming from, and it's a crying shame that the words starving and artist are rarely mutually exclusive.
From now until Christmas Eve, there will be opportunities galore to patronize local artists, shops and businesses. These are the people we see every day, the people who support our local students and charities - let's return that support.
'Tis the season. See you at the fair.
