By Byron McNutt

A COMMUNITY IS more than a group of people looking for the best deal; it’s a group of people looking out for each other. Everyone wins when we do business locally.

When small businesses close because big-box wholesalers have made the interstate the new Main Street, we are looking at more than a business trend; we are looking at a societal event that says something troubling about what we mean to each other.

Like the story of the Bouncing Buck that was left behind at a little gift store on Wall Street in Eagle River last week. The people he belonged to decided to trade him in for a Christmas gift for their grandson.