Downtown Bay Minette has immense charm, beautiful historic buildings and a great deal of unrealized potential.

But for some time now that potential has been wasted, a part of its value lost to our community. It is up to those of us who care about that loss to contribute to the current efforts at creating a unique niche for it in the larger Baldwin County landscape.

If we’re willing to make the effort, there’s no reason why it couldn’t once again become a tangible source of civic pride for our city and a destination for travelers on their way to the Gulf.

One of the goals of the Old Town Bay Minette Arts Council, of which I am a member, is to support local artisans and businesses that are seeking to be a part of that revitalization of the downtown area.

Recently, I have heard stories from various long time residents about the glory days of downtown Bay Minette, when it was the first place people in the surrounding community went to shop and gather. There is no reason why we can’t have that again.

One way the Old Town Bay Minette Arts Council is working to draw attention to the downtown area is through Market Day. We have embraced homemade, handmade and homegrown as its watchwords and will be working hard to promote and foster the arts in Bay Minette through that focus.

Now it is time to take that effort a step further and encourage residents to shop locally, to participate and revitalize our downtown. We want to nurture and grow a real sense of downtown/hometown pride.

Remember that the money you spend locally helps fund services like your library — which provides wonderful books, eBooks, audiobooks and DVDs among other fantastic services! It also helps fund important public services like the police and fire departments.

There are many campaigns and grassroots efforts that are just starting and some that are already in place to encourage shopping locally and with small businesses.

We need to start a grassroots effort here.

Last November, the White House declared the Saturday following Thanksgiving as Small Business Saturday to encourage holiday shopping at small businesses. President Obama stated that “From the mom-and-pop storefront shops that anchor Main Street to the high-tech startups that keep America on the cutting edge, small businesses are the backbone of our economy and the cornerstones of our Nation’s promise.”

Local small businesses are the backbone of Bay Minette. Shopping locally stimulates the local economy and helps employ our friends and neighbors. A huge plus for me is that there is more product diversity with small businesses because they select what the customers need and want instead of what the corporate office wants them to sell.

Shopping locally also grows the small business and creates a thriving downtown which will draw other small businesses, creating jobs and offering a variety of places to shop. Shopping locally helps you share in a sense of community and a love of that community. It starts with you. Invest in your community and you will also reap the benefits.

When I think of a great hometown I envision Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey running through the streets of Bedford Falls on Christmas Eve.

Who doesn’t long for that sense of community, where everyone knows you and calls “hello” as you pass, where strangers are only a handshake away from becoming friends, where merchants aren’t just salesmen, but know their customers and value the relationship? In much of the country that has been almost irrevocably lost, but Bay Minette still has some of that spirit. It can have more.

It is with this lovely idea in mind that I ask you shop locally and support your hometown/downtown businesses, to walk its streets and get to know the shop owners and neighbors putting their hard work and hope into that idea.

It’s time for us to shake hands and make new traditions founded in old and honored ones.

 I think we all want to see a renewed and thriving downtown. Working together we still can. Be a part of it. Help us welcome all of us back to that neighborhood.