Regardless if your last minute shopping list includes a partridge in a pear tree or five golden rings, you have a good chance of saving time, money and frustration this Christmas by shopping locally.

By taking shopping list in hand and perusing many of Shelby County&8217;s business districts, you can satisfy even the pickiest person on your list.

Numerous businesses are located throughout our community; they offer the convenience and service we all crave this time of year. You can grab a good cup of coffee at one of the local coffee shops, pick up just the right gift for that special someone at any one of our community&8217;s jewelry stores, you can find that unique gift at any number of the specialty shops throughout the county, and you can even take a train ride to the &8220;North Pole&8221; by visiting Calera&8217;s Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum to wrap up a perfect day of shopping.

These businesses help create the environment that draws so many people to our county, helping shape the hometown atmosphere of our cities and towns.

You may find many of the items on your list by watching a television shopping channel but something about that experience just doesn&8217;t quite seem like Christmas.

And the ultimate impact of shopping locally can&8217;t be overlooked.

Estimates by many economists predict that one dollar spent at a local business will return five times that amount to the community in the form of city taxes, employee wages, etc.

Beyond this, many Shelby County businesses support our community through donations to schools and other local non-profit organizations. They are in large part very good neighbors and are deserving of our support.

Very talented and dedicated people invest a great deal of time, effort and money to create new and better jobs for our county, to build new schools and to grow our economy. You and I can have a positive impact on this effort by simply spending our holiday shopping dollars at home.

Certainly, if someone on your list has their heart set on eleven pipers piping this year, you may have a tough time meeting their expectations locally.

But considering how difficult such a gift would be to wrap and that it undoubtedly would have a hard time fitting under the tree, you might consider purchasing a gift card in its stead