When I last
left off, I told you the story of Sauk Valley Shop Small was a twisted tale of
fluke, luck, blind faith and a determination to make something good happen in
the community. Well it’s also a modern day adventure story,
one of trail blazing, good spirits, and a willingness to take risk; all wrapped
up in the technology driven social/community revolution we see well underfoot.
If I had to
liken this adventure to any particular time period, it would be to the 1800’s
West. In my nostalgic mind, that was a time of bushwhacking, brawl
busting, expansion, a time when the frontier was at a precipice of change, a
moment that would crystalize in history as singular.
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| Buffalo Bud |
We live in a
time like that now. Gun toting frontiers people of the past are modern day
builders of code, cable and chips. The wooden mercantiles and muddy main
streets of the 1840’s are now 21st century small businesses, run by
a bunch of sharp-shooting, sinewy types, cut from cloth fashioned from gut
determination and passion for innovating new ways to grow business daily.
Our own modern day Annie Oakley’s and Buffalo Bill’s have set down rifles and
picked up paint brushes and guitars, crafting a culture reflecting the
importance of diversity and heart.
Today we are
poised on top our own precipice of change. Changes afoot are the trails
being blazed by technology and specifically social media. It’s our modern
day Wild West story.
It is in this
story, I find myself in company with a most gregarious sort, a character named
Bud, or Just Bud if you will. This fun-loving, hard-working hippie
showman is our own modern day Buffalo Bill. As for me, I waffle
between days such as I imagine Calamity Jane may have experienced, but most,
far less spectacular.
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| Court |
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| Tricky Nick |
In our story
you’ll meet four more main characters, Janna, Jay, Nick, and Court. We
happen to think Nick would make a perfect Texas Jack, a young frontier scout
and actor of the mid 1800’s who in his early teens left home, made his way
alone to Texas and became a cowboy. For us, we refer to Nick as, Tricky
Nick, a young entrepreneur who opened up a happening computer repair shop in
Dixon. He and his crack-shot Oakley-like Court are the two youngest
small business owners in town.
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| Jayman |
And then there’s Janna and Jay, or the
Jayman as Bud like’s to call him. Jayman is a Wild Bill Hickok-like
character, a seasoned musician and local radio personality where he dispenses
the daily cultural law on air. And we must not overlook, Jayman is a
lover of all good things jazz. He’s got a hot jazz trio, Chameleon, who
has lit up our evenings on more than one occasion. And finally, our cast
of six is not complete without our Janna. Janna is a spitfire organizer
who keeps us grounded even when we right-brained types tend to wander off into
the bush. As I write, I have not a western counter for Ms. J. But
as this story unfolds I’m sure you’ll help me to find a fit.
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| Ms. J |
But as you
Buffalo Bill lovers know, his show had over a thousand characters bringing the
Wild West Show to life. And so it is here too. Our thousand are the
people of the Sauk Valley region. Friends we’ve met, artists, musicians,
small business owners. They are all various characters of the passionate
sort. In our story you’ll read of many, but know that behind each name
there are a dozen more who by working together made Sauk Valley Shop Small come
to life as we turn the page to begin our modern day tale of a community working
together to break new ground for brighter small town future.
When we next
pick up, I’ll tell the story that started it off. There is a twisty path
to get to what eventually brought about Sauk Valley Shop Small. Before
then, however, we may offer up some additional content about the shop small
movement and other current topics.
