closing

Casino Conundrum

Poker chips

Is it really a conundrum?  Nah, but the alliteration sounds good.

A few weeks ago, planners in a nearby town started considering allowing a casino to be built in their failing mall.  The hope was that it would help to revive the mall and the town with new jobs and new revenue.

Editorial columns in the local paper have been filled with letters reminding city leaders that casinos do not generate wealth, only redistribute it….and this area doesn’t have a lot to start with.  To add another wrinkle to the plans, this past week one of the three remaining anchor stores in the mall announced that they are closing their doors.  Yikes.

I know that this is part of economic cycles and that the nature of retail will change from generation to generation.  That doesn’t stop me from panicking about not being able to find goods when I need them.  I counted on Sears for sturdy cookware and outdoor lawn and gardening tools.  The only B & M store left in this area is Walmart.  Unless you are looking for stretchy tween leggings or oversized stuffed animal heads, you are going to be out of luck.

Two Cairn terriers sitting in the grass.

The boys are encouraging me to go to the Sears closing sale to stock up on whatever we might need to last us until B&M stores come back into fashion.  Since that might never happen, we might need to buy a lot of stuff!

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Things We Take for Granted

Cairn terrier sitting with marigolds.

Toby visiting the new statue and enjoying the marigolds.

At mass this weekend, the topic of parish closings came up.  It seems that with all of the scandal in the Catholic church, attendance is dangerously low (as is financial support), and there is a very real chance that we could lose our church.  For some reason I had never considered this as a possibility.

Our church isn’t one of the oldest, but it has been around for 50 years.  A lot of work has been done with building maintenance, improvements to the grounds and even adding a statue of the patron saint.  Not only is it a big part of the community, but it is where dog people in the area meet to talk and exercise their pups.  My boys grew up there and are known by everyone.

Since I have MCS, being in buildings with a lot of people wearing perfume and having cigarette smoke on their clothes is more than I can bear, so I haven’t attended mass in a good while.  I still participate in as many other aspects of the community as I can, however.

I didn’t realize until today just how much I would miss it if our church weren’t here.  I know a lot of other people are going through the same thing.  October is the month when then count attendance in order to determine which churches are closed and which kept open.  I am hoping to struggle through as many services as I can to do my part to keep this one open.  I hope that most churches are able to weather this storm and continue to provide good things for their communities for years to come.

Good luck with yours!

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Need to distract yourself from being sad over things that are not in your control?  Consider reading Poopiter! It is a fun little distraction with plenty of stories about these naughty pups.

Bitey Dog and Toby in POOPITER

 

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