Anybody who’s been to a store for sundries, or tried to get a piece of exercise equipment, or tried to order materials for a home project, knows that the supply-chain woes we hear about daily on the news are real.

We’re repeatedly being warned that if we see something we need or want, we’d better get it now, because no one knows when it can get replaced if it sells. It’s not even Halloween yet, and we’re told we’re already behind on our Christmas shopping.

Well, OK.

There’s no way to avoid the supply-chain woes entirely — but we here in Sisters may be able to beat ’em this holiday season.

“Shop Local” is a familiar slogan at this time of year, but judging from the flood of Amazon packages that inundates the Sisters Post Office daily, we don’t necessarily take it to heart. Online ordering can be a blessing, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it does nothing to support our local community. Yet we keep mashing that purchase-with-one-click button and waiting for the box to arrive.

It would seem that urging folks to “shop local” because it’s “the right thing to do” doesn’t quite get the job done. Perhaps we’re better off appealing to self-interest. Right now, that’s an easy argument. If we’re hunting for Christmas gifts (already?!), the work of local makers, crafters, and artists isn’t floating on cargo ships out on the Pacific Ocean.

That local work deserves to be a first choice anyway. Speaking for myself, most of the things I get the most use and pleasure from are the work of local makers: the guitar I play; the hat I wear every day; the mug I’m drinking my coffee from as I write this — all made right here in Central Oregon.

Real economic benefit in our community; ready availability; lasting value — all that sounds like a pretty good deal. Maybe we can use this crisis as an opportunity to rediscover the homemade treasures that abide right here in Sisters.

Jim Cornelius

Editor in Chief

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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