Letter: Hometown Heroes makes a good gift for the holidays
Published 1:30 am Saturday, December 17, 2022
Editor,
Is it me, or are more people indeed living from their hearts these days? It’s holiday season again, and I feel in the last few years there’s been a shift towards more conscious buying (and giving), a shift I am relieved to see. Sure, there are still family members that demand shiny things and won’t settle for the lovely hand-knit winter cap you bought them at the craft fair (not at all referring to my sister here), and sure, there are still certain things perhaps you just can’t obtain locally or sustainably (I’m not judging, we all do it). But there is one gift out there that, to me, ticks all the boxes, including getting that sweet, sweet eye-roll from my designer label-obsessed sister (sweet because she’s human and does have a soul, and we both know she’ll secretly really appreciate this one): the recently released second volume of the Hometown Heroes book.
Hometown Heroes Volume 2 is a collection of 53 new interviews with South Whidbey locals who lead inspiring lives of all kinds. I learned about it when I was hired to design the book and thought, “How cute, how quaint.” Now here I am writing this letter, because — this will sound hokey — it has truly changed my life for the better. Maybe it’s that those featured are my neighbors, regular folks and not some Angelina Jolie working with refugees in Africa (more power to her). Not all of us have the fire to be activists or the stamina to be social workers, but I do believe that all of us have that initial instinct to be kind. This book has helped me to ignore that second impulse that says, “I don’t have time,” or “someone else will take care of it.”
What better time than the holidays to spread this message of kindness? And the best part is that 100% of the profits go to the South Whidbey Schools Foundation, Island Senior Resources and WAIF animal shelter, so you can feel good about your purchase. If you love craft fairs like I do, you’ll find the book at the Greenbank Farm Holiday Market the first two weekends of December. Otherwise Moonraker Books carries it as does Senior Thrift in Freeland, the WAIF thrift store in Freeland, the Community Center in Langley, the Star Store Mercantile and
Anna Cosper
Clinton
