It’s Thanksgiving, and that means it is the opening of holiday shopping season. Don’t forget that when you spend money in Cazenovia and in Madison County the sales tax you pay gets returned to our villages and towns in tax revenue at the end of each year — which helps support our municipal budgets and keep taxes lower. So shop local! This Saturday, Nov. 24, is Small Business Saturday, a day set aside to remind everyone to shop where they live and not online or out of town. We have wonderful merchants with unique items in our town; so think outside the [big] box [retail store] and buy your presents here.

If, however, you love to shop online, remember that if you shop on Amazon.com a portion of your total purchase can be donated to the Cazenovia Public Library. Just go to Amazon through the library website at cazenoviapubliclibary.org and click on the “Shop Amazon” link. If you do, 3.75 percent of your total purchase will be donated to the library at no cost to you. You may not be shopping local, but you can still support local!