The need to shop locally is as great as ever | Editorial

Published 11:31 am Tuesday, March 6, 2012

As anyone who has lived here a long time knows, Vashon is a resilient place.

Novelist Betty MacDonald captured that spirit brilliantly more than 50 years ago, when she described in her book “Onions in the Stew” her rugged life on Vashon’s waterfront, where catching the ferry each morning was sometimes an adventure.

Things are easier these days, at least for most of us. But Vashon — with its discrete boundaries, limited government services and utter dependency on ferries — is still profoundly different from the mainland. We depend on each other. We don’t have as much cushion during tough times. Life is just a tad more challenging here — and as a result, we have to dig deeper and push harder to make it work.

Nowhere is that more obvious than in our town core, where several businesses continue to hang on by a thread. Restaurants come and go. Small shops operate on the thinnest of margins. Some thrive, of course, or at least seem to do OK. But many struggle.

Over and over again, civic activists note the importance of shopping locally. Indeed, Vashon Pharmacy co-owner Tom Langland, in a news story in The Beachcomber two weeks ago, put it well: “Our dollars are votes. You can vote for your Island, or against it.”

The Beachcomber has repeatedly underscored that message: The need to shop locally is imperative, even if it sometimes means spending a few extra dollars for a product.

The fact is, it’s not simply in the merchant’s interest. It’s also in ours. How wonderful it is to have our small, locally owned shops here when we have a consumer emergency — when we need to run out for poster board, a birthday gift or a new article of clothing for an unexpected event.

But as we all know, if we want these shops available to us in our times of need, we need to support them during stretches of smooth sailing, too. It’s much like a friendship: We need to tend to the relationship through the good times if we want it to be there for us during hard times.

After a few years of an economic recession, Vashon’s town core shows some signs of strain. A few very visible shops are currently boarded up or on the market. Some others could join those ranks soon. But many others are doing just fine, and some, like Island Quilter, are even expanding.

As Betty MacDonald noted 50 some years ago, the Island is resilient, strong and full of character. And so it is today. Spring is coming. The days are growing longer. And in Vashon’s town core, that resilient spirit continues to persevere.