Our View: Businesses have much to offer

With Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow, the Christmas season is set to rear its head with the annual Black Friday shopping circus. While Black Friday itself is a name more than anything else, as many big box stores have pushed their sales into Thanksgiving to get that all-important competitive edge, we would like to remind our readers to remember Green River’s local businesses.

The city’s small businesses have a lot to offer. Mike Frink at Sweetwater Trophies has a number of interesting things available at his shop, including framed artwork and photography. For the carnivore on the shopping list, R&B Meats is a great place pick up summer sausages and other meaty treats. They also offer smoked holiday turkeys. For people who enjoy local history, the Sweetwater County Historical Museum has a gift shop with a variety of historical books and products related to the area.

A second option for thoe who enjoy the supernatural is the Sweetwater County Library System’s “Spirits in the Stacks: Tales from Sweetwater County’s haunted library.”

The book details some of the supernatural phenomena that has been reported at the Green River library over the years and offers a history of the property. Proceeds also go towards the Sweetwater County Library Foundation, which helps fund programs throughout the library system.

On the other side of the river, Wyoming Embroidery offers a wide range of gift ideas for sportsmen, while Flaming Gorge Harley-Davidson is the destination for the motorcycle enthusiasts of any age on someone’s list. There’s a lot available in Green River that doesn’t require the wait for an Amazon package to arrive.

Beyond the availability of gifts, shopping in Green River also fuels the local economy. Money spent locally stays local, it doesn’t wind up in the coffers of some faceless corporation focused on maximizing its profit margins. That money circulates. It becomes a donation to local schools and wages supporting families living in Sweetwater County. It pays for an evening at the Fish Bowl or dinner at the Hitching Post.

The longer the money spent at home stays, the more people it will benefit.