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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, December 18, 2015 | 6 We all stand to win by shopping locally Are you ready for the holidays? It's a common question that's asked many times at this time of the year. Hopefully, you shopped locally or plan to. If you celebrate Christmas, there are still seven shopping days left until the big day. We, as the local paper of record, are encouraging residents who are spending money this holiday season to make sure their dollars stay close to home. Now, more than ever, local retailers, car dealers, specialty shops, services and restaurants, to name but a few, need consumers to open their wallets here in Oakville. Our local economy is not as strong as it once was and local retailers are placing their hopes on a good holiday season. We shouldn't let them down. While shopping, you can pause awhile at a café or restaurant. Appreciate the store owners, who are proud of the goods they sell and who spend the necessary time intelligently answering customers' questions. By spending your hard-earned dollars here, you are helping to keep the city running smoothly. The spin-off effects are tremendous. Local shopping supports small- and medium-sized businesses, the backbone of our economy. These businesses create jobs, grow neighbourhoods, attract consumers and play a large role in the creation of sustainable communities. As a consumer, every purchase you make at a local business has a direct impact on the surrounding neighbourhood and the local economy. Your dollars really do make a difference. Local businesses play key roles in giving communities their identities and also in uence neighbourhood desirability and growth -- witness Downtown Oakville. Money spent locally also tends to be re-invested within the community in the form of local employment or the contracting of locally-based supplies and services. Shopping close to home, in turn provides local employment opportunities, reduces commuting distances, motor vehicle traf c circulation and subsequently emissions related with these activities, so it can have positive effects on the environment. It all adds up to a win-win... not to mention there are so many unique gift ideas hidden in the stores and galleries of Oakville. Canadians are cutting back this season, according to a poll from business-analytics-provider SAS. According to the data, about one in ve Canadians plans to spend less this year than in 2014. That's not good news for retailers and it's even harder to swallow for local independent retailers. So, if you do plan to shop until you drop, at least keep the money in our community. After you are done your shopping, don't forget to put a local restaurant on your shopping list. And before we forget, when you are out shopping, remember the local charities that need assistance. Set aside some extra dollars if you are able and hopefully, you'll see your way clear to give generously to all the groups and organizations that work so hard to ensure everyone has a happy holiday. Happy shopping, and happy holidays. Editorial F E S T I V A L O F T R "Connected to your Community" E E S 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 53 | Number 101 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager Director of Production SANDY PARE MARK DILLS MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Starr Alderson won the Muskoka Tree in the May Court Club of Oakville's annual Festival of Trees fundraiser held recently at Oakville Place. Each year, the service club holds a raf e on a variety of decorated trees and holiday items. Alderson said she has entered more than 10 years in a row, but has never won until this year. | photo by Justin Greaves ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Letter to the Editor Thank you Oakville for supporting OTMH This past Sunday, residents of Oakville may have noticed an unusual number of ambulances and patient transport vehicles on the roads. This is because, during the course of about 10 hours, we safely moved more than 270 inpatients from the legacy Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) to the new, stateof-the-art OTMH. Dedicated staff, physicians and volunteers gave of their time to make this move a success; I thank them all for their commitment to our patients. But we could not have accomplished this task without the help of many other partners. Health Care Relocations, a specialized rm focused on this sort of operation, precisely coordinated the move, ensuring no detail was overlooked. Paramedics from Halton and Peel EMS transported our more fragile patients. And transport teams from RNR Patient Transfer Services moved the remainder of the patients. We at Halton Healthcare owe them a debt of gratitude. On Dec. 13, 2015, we witnessed the next step in the evolution of your community hospital here in Oakville as we said goodbye to the historic hospital that served us well for 65 years and opened the doors to the new hospital that will serve us equally well for decades to come. We could not have done this without the help of our community. On behalf of everyone at Halton Healthcare I would like to thank the residents of Oakville for their support. We look forward to serving you at the new hospital. Denise Hardenne, president/CEO Halton Healthcare, Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 or via email to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.