Ad’k Current by Colin Criss

Christmas on Main Street: Community effort makes for signature event

Christmas on Main Street, the clever moniker attached to the couple weekends after Thanksgiving, is a growing event in Old Forge’s cultural calendar. The definition of the event is annually evolving; each year it means more things to more people.

For countless tourists, Christmas on Main Street is a chance to get lost in a picturesque mountain village. For residents, it is a welcome distraction to kick off winter, and the holiday season. Business owners welcome the weekends as an additional economic bump. A few more visitors, a few more dollars.

This economic bump doesn’t only help the business owners, however. It helps everyone involved. Events like this cause more businesses to open, providing an even more amusing get away for visitors. These extra businesses also add a few residents to the town population, thus boosting all around economic health for the town we all love.

Therefore, there is one more meaning to the event that often goes unmentioned. Teamwork.If this, and other gatherings throughout the year, are going to benefit everyone, everyone’s contribution is needed.

In the case of Christmas on Main Street, it might mean dressing up a pickup to serve as a float in the parade.

Or perhaps it means volunteering your time to dress as an elf or a Christmas tree and walk around downtown.

Business owners could (and do) produce cookies, cider, and sales to welcome visitors.

If none of these things suits you, simply support businesses and volunteer organizations who pitch in endlessly.

And this is a reflection of the entire year in our area. The concept that separates small towns and cities is community. What is community, in the context of economy? A communal economy—what is that?

Simply, our economy is shared. Although in a city one may become lost in the numbers, the burden and fruit of our economy is held equally on the shoulders of each person throughout our towns.

We like to think of ourselves as a large family—and we are. But we can’t allow ourselves to coast. We won’t thrive without continuous effort across our community, even in the growth and development of our area.

A small town economy truly is a team effort, demanding the attention of every single resident and visitor. In order to make our economy prosper, we cannot push the job off on someone else. We can’t leave it all up to CAA, the town government, CAP-21, or other small organizations.

These few groups may do the bulk of the work. But without the help of each resident, events like Christmas on Main Street will begin to disappear, and with it the culture we love.

We all love the Adirondacks, not only for the natural beauty of the mountains, but for the culture those mountains envelop. This culture must be protected. And town-wide participation is the best way to do this.

You can follow Colin Criss on Twitter @ADKCurrent

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