• Cͨhͪrͬiͥs͛ᴛⷮmͫaͣs͛ iͥn Dͩoͦwnᴛⷮoͦwn S͛ᴛⷮaͣrͬᴋⷦvͮiͥlleͤ •

As I walked along the sidewalk with family, said hello to friends, watched the smiling faces of each small business owner, breathed in the holiday cheer, and listened to the mischievous giggles of over-spenders, I couldn’t help but ponder on how unWINE came to be

Several years before the pandemic, our Downtown began fading away, and fast. Between the increase of online shopping, and the ever dreaded “busyness”, personal shopping had became a chore

For full disclosure, I was one of the online shopper converts. I mean, really — why should I have to get dressed, put my face on, brush the unruly hair, run outside in the cold air, only to crank the car — to have COLD air blown on me, and go Downtown, to a local store — that may not even have what I want?

As fate would have it, a life-lesson was heading my way

On one cold morning, I met Joni [Fleur-de-lis] at a local gathering. If you know me, you know that I am addicted to lip balm. It used to be chapstick [which is sooooo bad for your lips long-term], but Joni introduced me to an all-natural lip balm she carried at her store, and I haven’t looked back

Joni learned quickly that I was a book lover, so she introduced me to Carolyn [Book Mart on Main]. At that time, Amazon was my best friend, and I felt guilty, standing in front of my new acquaintance, telling her that she would be hard-pressed to convert me to “shop local”. She didn’t even try. Carolyn smiled gently…