Most households have been busy getting ready for Thanksgiving this week, looking forward to welcoming family members from away or perhaps traveling to join them out of town. For many Americans, Thanksgiving is the holiday when they most want to be at home or with their loved ones.

Besides preparing to join one another around the dinner table, some area residents, women in particular, are looking forward to another major event that usually gets underway this month: the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. 

Traditionally, it’s been Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when shoppers storm the stores for special bargains. But some major chains are pushing the onset of the big rush to Thursday evening. 

Some stores claim they take in more than 20 percent of their entire Christmas shopping revenue on that one day. That's amazing, considering the utter chaos in some stores and how long shoppers have to wait in the checkout line. 

Here in Boothbay Harbor, smart shoppers were up bright and early last weekend to take advantage of the always-popular Early Bird Sale, where they traditionally find many bargains and have fun at the same time. 

We don’t know how many years it’s been around, but we just learned a week or so ago that the Saturday after Thanksgiving has been designated as Small Business Day, to focus attention on the major role small businesses play in our economy, representing over 98 percent of all business in our country.

Those of us who live in rural communities should appreciate small shops and stores more than our city neighbors, because we count on them to meet our needs on a daily basis, week after week, year after year. While everyone enjoys mall or big box shopping on occasion, it’s the neighborhood stores where most of us do our daily business. We depend upon them but tend to take them for granted. Drive through your own hometown business district and imagine what life would be like without some of your familiar shops, staffed by your friends and neighbors. It’s not a pretty picture, is it?

We encourage all of you to shop at home this year for as many items on your list as possible. You can still enjoy your trips out of town, but keep in mind that small, independent stores and shops offer merchandise which is often unique; you can’t find many of these local offerings in the bigger stores.

Small businesses don’t have it easy, trying to compete with large chains and constantly being hit with one regulation or tax after another. Remember them this holiday season. You can make a big difference.