Before Blogging, Twitter, Facebook and Google, this is how my friend, Tom, did the local business challenge.

Before Blogging, Twitter, Facebook and Google, this is how my friend, Tom, did the local business challenge. When I was out meeting with Carol Spadafora, the owner of Escentials, she told me the story of how when she was just opening her store a very dear mutual friend helped get the word out about her new soap and bath accessories shop.

Tom, or Curly to all his friends, knew Carol Ann's husband through the Seagate Beach Club. Her husband told Curly of his wife's new shop on Atlantic Avenue. She was going to sell bath soaps, scents, candles and other gifts.

"So one day, I looked out the window and there's Tom. He parked his car, and told his wife, Joanne, to go in and buy something. Spend $100 or whatever, it didn't matter. Then, Tom stood outside and told anyone who walked by about the new store and suggested they go in and look around and buy something. "

Anyone who knows Curly, knows that this sounds exactly like what he would do. He is the spirit of what the Local Business Challenge is hoping to achieve. Go out, get to know your local businesses, and support them. Only now, instead of relying on the good will of neighbors and friends like Curly, we have Twitter, Google, Facebook and Blogging.

I write this because today, my most treasured friend , Curly, is having cancer surgery. So if you are reading this, please say a little prayer for this "Spirit of the Local Business Challenge. "