Published October 07, 2009 04:10 pm - America has become more homogenized over the years.
Time to show your support of homeless animals ROBERT LEBZELTER column for Oct. 11, 2009
Star Beacon
America has become more homogenized over the years.
Thanks to things like the Internet, television, cell phones and other technology, the miles between Americans have shrunk.
Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes not.
You will notice more and more, wherever you go in the U.S., you will find the same chain department stores, the same chain restaurants. Regional flavors, to some degree, have disappeared.
There are fewer local alternatives to the big box stores. Remember when everyone went to Anderson's Appliances, down the road from the Saybrook Plaza, to buy televisions or stereos?
If you wanted to buy anything from furniture to appliances to toys or clothes and have lunch to boot, you visited Carlisle's.
Conneaut had its own department store, Pelton’s, on two vast floors. The third floor was a stage and skating rink!
Slowly, the local choices have started to slip away. We lost Hamiltons Furniture and Appliance in Jefferson not long ago.
The big turndown in the economy a year ago only aggravated the situation.
People lost their jobs, lost income. They wanted deals more than ever. The big chain store could buy widgets at a much smaller price than local dealers and undercut the price.
Which, of course, brings me to Saturday's Boo-Wow Walk at Maple Ridge Golf Course on Route 45 in Austinburg at 1 p.m.
This is a wonderful way for you to spend time with your pet and have a lot of fun. If you haven't been to one, it is trick-or-treat for dogs as part of a one-mile walk. You and your pet stop at different stations along the way and collect doggie treats, a license plate bracket, a dog-training DVD, pet toys and more.
Profits from the event benefit the Ashtabula County Animal Protective League, which is always in dire circumstances, but even more so this year.
The economic downturn and two bouts of parvo, which shuts down the APL for weeks and costs big bucks for cleaning materials, have really aggravated the situation.
Now to participate in the walk, all you need is $18 and if you are one of the first 400 to sign up, you get a T-shirt, too. That's a really, really good bargain for all you get. But the APL hopes not only will you come out with your pet, but you will get sponsors, lots of sponsors, to participate.
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