Imagine Middleburg with its very own McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell and (be still my heart) a Sheetz.

Visualize strip mall convenience, stores like everyone else has, and (be still my heart II) the 24/7 high-intensity-lighting sky-glow that only a 1,000-car black-top parking lot can provide.

Think about all the advantages of banishing the "country" . . . with all that grass, all those pesky birds, insects and free-wheeling mammals large and small (not to mention all that scary "emptiness") . . . to a respectable five or ten mile distance from town.

Think no dogs allowed. Think no horses allowed. Think no outdoors allowed.

Imagine a "normal" Christmas parade, without fox hunters, horses, dogs, cub scouts, corgis, or the Town Council in a hay wagon . . . held INSIDE.

Sound grim?

Think small, cool, and collected . . . and shop here first.

Shop all the local merchants, restaurants, retailers and services providers who make Middleburg . . . Middleburg.

Happily, they make it easy.

Our local business people know what we like, make it easy to find and a pleasure to purchase.

They also stay on top of what other people like, bring the best of it here, and make us the center of an extraordinary special and regional celebration.

Shopping in Middleburg is ALWAYS new and different . . . but, in some indescribable way, it's always . . . Middleburg.

November and December will either make or break nearly every small retailer . . . including our own.

Let's make sure our first loyalty as shoppers this year is to the people who make our town the special place that it is.

Shop big. Shop often. Shop Local.