Whether you feel freshly empowered by voting recently, or freshly mugged by the collapse of your particular chunk of the world economy, you do have one opportunity right now to affect your world with your actions - you can save Wilkes County jobs by spend- ing your money here. Yes, even at Christmas time. Especially now.

Our local small businesses, our stores, our service companies, and our restaurants are bracing for their worst holiday season in three decades. Folks are holding tight to their money this year, uncertain over higher costs for everything, worried over the growing chance of unemployment, and threatened by hard-to-find credit for business and consumers. That's why, more than ever, we need to support local businesses.

Everybody, it seems, is cutting back this year. Some families are exchanging names for gift-giving, others are buying only what they can afford to buy with cash. And they're going for personal and practical gifts -- big-screen TVs and game systems are out. There's just no money like last year.

But at Christmas time, if there's just a few dollars in my pocket, I'm going to do something for my family, friends, and neighbors. The experts say a dollar spent in our local economy circulates about seven times before it leaves, turning into Friday paychecks for many along the way. For years, I've been dedicated to making sure my limited dollars stay here in Wilkes County for as long as possible. And this year, even more so, I'm going to search out and find all the gifts for my family here, unless it's absolutely impossible.

Realistically though, can we few thousand citizens spending our money here make a difference? Absolutely. When Americans quit buying $4 gas, the price dropped by half. When Americans quit buying unsafe Chinese toys, thousands of Chinese factories closed. If we all quit spending our Christmas money among crowds of strangers in Augusta, Athens, and Thomson, we will save the businesses and jobs of our families and friends here in Wilkes County.

And that, folks, is a gift that will keep on giving.