Monthly Archives: November 2010

Local Traditions, Telling Stories Can Ease the Disconnect

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A recent consumer survey indicates that in spite of all the communication and shopping choices available these days to make the holidays easier, people are feeling more disconnected than ever.  They wish they could spend more time with friends and family. Women in particular indicate that shopping takes up most of their time during the holidays and they would like more time to share with loved ones.

A national communications firm has launched a marketing campaign called Stay Grounded that is encouraging using the art of storytelling to help strengthen relationships and make meaningful connections during the holidays.

One of the great things about living in a small city with an historic downtown like ours is that there are lots of stories and traditions here. And even if you weren’t born and raised here, you don’t have to go far to hear or see one.  Chat with a merchant, stop in a museum, sit and talk at the bar.  You’ll see and hear a lot of the stories and local traditions that connect people together year after year.

Feeling a little disconnected this holiday season? Make a date to come down and share the downtown shopping experience, catch up with friends over dinner at one of our cozy restaurants and bring the whole family down for a holiday event or a live theater or music show. You’ll run into familiar faces, experience local traditions and feel good about supporting your community. And isn’t that what being connected is all about?

Have a good Staunton Christmas story to tell?  Post a comment here or on the SDDA Facebook page!

Sparkles & Sweets Event Showcases Best of Downtown

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I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives.  I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.  ~ Abraham Lincoln

In a challenging economy, premier shopping events such as last week’s annual “Sparkles & Sweets” in downtown Staunton may seem a little bold and a bit risky for many merchants who have had an unbelievably rough couple years.  Extra advertising, decorations, staffing and buying refreshments for several hundred people can be a burden when sales are down. But to anyone attending the SDDA’s traditional holiday shopping season preview, it was clear this event has become more than just a night where retailers court customers with free refreshments and entertainment in hopes they will spend.   I crisscrossed the entire downtown district shooting pictures of the SDDA’s new holiday character “ELFis” in his debut appearance, and I was struck by one significant recurring theme.   People were talking to each other.  Really talking to each other.

Even in my busyness and silly rock star groupie costume, I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the groups of people laughing and sharing stories on the street.  Merchants greeting their visitors with hugs and laughter.  Mary Baldwin students engaging in a “sing off” on Beverley Street.  Couples dancing to the DJ in the soon-to-open artisan cooperative.  Kids and moms and entertainers carrying on at the karaoke machine.  Horse-drawn carriages whirring past magicians enchanting passersby on the sidewalks. This wasn’t a shopping mall with throngs of glassy-eyed shoppers jostling by to the next store in search of something for nothing and barely seeing the person next to them.  It was couples, families, friends stopping to say hello, catch up on the latest, talk about their lives.  It was a block party with heart.

Do events like “Sparkles & Sweets” truly benefit the many downtown merchants who spend a great deal of time, money and energy on them?  Some might say not much; others say it’s great exposure.  From my perspective as a downtown resident and worker, creating a “sense of place” and a friendly meeting ground sets our downtown apart and creates an environment that invites people to come again, tell their friends what  a great time they had and most of all, become a community that will stand together through tough times.   Has it been a tough couple years?  You betcha.  But with the authenticity I saw on the street last week from merchants, performers and shoppers alike, I have no doubt whatsoever that this place is going to make it because of the many people who care about it and each other.  And THAT is something to showoff and be proud of.   Bravo everyone!