Buy local this year and help support your nearby economy.

What follows is a short but powerful article written by a friend of mine, Linda Orrison. For those that don’t know Linda, she is involved with her family BBQ business based in Ocean Springs Mississippi. Together they have grown their operation, The Shed BBQ & Blues Joint into 5 locations with the home base covering over 9,500 square feet of space and seating over 500 people. Pretty amazing stuff as well as a real American success story. Anyway, give her article a read and if you have a minute, check out their web site www.TheShedBBQ.com. They also have a complete line of award winning sauces and rubs available at, you guessed it,The Shed Store, check it out.


Just want to let you know we are all doing fine at The Shed. The ShedCrew just jumped on the tour bus and went to our Lafayette/Scott location last weekend to help with the Sertoma Air Show. If you are ever close to Lafayette when it is going on I would highly recommend going to it. It was spectacular! Made me proud to be an American! Speaking of that, I’d like to put a thought in your ShedHed heads.
The holidays are coming up and I’m sure there are a lot of people on your gift lists that you have NO CLUE as to what to buy them. Some of them have everything they need. Some you don’t really know what they need and some you don’t what they like. Makes it difficult doesn’t it.


I ran across an article that really impressed me as to a new approach in our gift giving. With all the overseas factories banging out monstrous piles of cheap goods and merchandise being produced at the expense of our local labor and local jobs we could change this by thinking outside the box.


This year Americans can give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There are millions of American made products and services to be found this Holiday season right in our own backyards.


Everyone gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from their salon or barber? Who wouldn’t appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, locally owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate.
From small gift giving such as, for your aquarium loving friends, going to the locally owned pet shop and purchasing a cool looking fish to the larger gifts like having your friend or family member’s lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter.


There are so very many locally owned and operated restaurants in our communities where gift certificates abound. What a great idea to give a family a night out on the town! Then there’s uncle Grumpy, think he might enjoy a few rounds of golf at the local course or a dozen breakfasts at the local café? You just might get him to smile!


There are over 25 million small businesses in this great Country of ours mostly struggling in these economically turbulent days, that need our support like never before. This is about supporting home town small businesses….your neighbors with their financial lives on the line…and helping them to keep their doors open.
My conclusion is that if we purchase our gifts locally, we are actually giving them twice. Once to the business owner and then on to our loved ones. I plan on telling the owners when I get there to buy their gift certificates how much I appreciate them and will wish them a Very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!

Linda Orrison aka MamaShed
www.TheShedBBQ.com