TIPP TALK – Thanksgiving and Homes for the Holidays
December 6
by Greg Enslen
Thanksgiving. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving out there in Tipp City – it’s a great holiday, offering a chance to get together with the folks that you should be spending more time with anyway. If you haven’t yet, make sure to drop a dime (does anyone still use pay phones anymore? Are calls still 10 cents?) and call that friend or family member out of town. Let them know you were thinking about them. You know who I’m talking about – when I said “out of town friend or family member,” who did you think of first? Take a few minutes out of the football game and go give them a ring. You’ll both feel better and have a nice chance to reconnect.
Crazy shoppers on Black Friday. I didn’t go out shopping on Black Friday – there wasn’t really anything out there that I needed and I hate getting caught up in silly hoopla. Folks dropped by the sale we had at the Big Robot. Sales are strange for retailers – you get more folks in but it cuts into your markup. The only really profitable “sale” is one that you spend time and effort promoting – holding a spur-of-the-moment sale does no little good because you’re not drawing in extra customers than you would already have had. Cairns Toys does it right – everyone knows they’re doing a 20% off everything in the store during Winter’s Yuletide Gathering, and the place is packed. Increased sales volume offsets the lower sales margins, resulting in a very profitable sale.
Homes for the Holidays! Historic Downtown Tippecanoe held their holiday tour of homes benefiting the Tipp City Area Arts Council on December 5, 2009 – hope you got a chance to come out. Accompanying the Homes for the Holidays tour was a weekend of family-friendly events celebrating the season. The tour included seven historic properties, including the Willowtree Inn and residences on Main Street, Dow Street, and Broadway. Each location also displayed original pieces presented by local artisans. The festivities were projects of the Downtown Tipp City Partnership and Tipp Monroe Community Services. For more information, check out the Tipp City Visitor’s Bureau website at www.visittippcity.org and click on “Events.” If you missed the opportunity to see the homes but would still like to make a donation, please contact the Tipp Monroe Community Services or the Downtown Tipp City Partnership.
Thieves strike again! Tipp City is turning into a virtual hotbed of criminal activity lately! Several months ago, scores of welcome mats were stolen from homes all over the city. Now I hear that someone stole two trees from downtown pots near Harrison’s. Two planters were defaced and the contents, gifts from the Rotary club, were removed. So what dastardly element is striking our fair town? And, for the record, who steals trees? Seriously, Tipp is a great place – let’s try and keep it that way. Those planters and the trees and much of the work done around the downtown are the works of groups of volunteers such as the America in Bloom committee, the DTCP and others, along with businesses like Spring Hill Nurseries. Please help keep the downtown looking nice! If you know anything about this flagrant vandalism, call the Tipp City Police Department.
Hear something interesting for “Tipp Talk”? Shoot me an email at genslen@yahoo.com. And don’t worry – I won’t quote you unless you want me to!
