Saturday, Nov. 26 was Small Business Saturday, and the Shop Small movement has done an excellent job of publicizing the event this year.

TV and radio ads have been explaining for weeks how important it is to patronize local merchants during this busy shopping weekend.

Small businesses create two out of three new jobs, keep local economies alive and sustain our neighborhoods.

Many are extending their business hours and offering special incentives to shoppers on Small Business Saturday, taking advantage of all the free motivational publicity to boost sales.

My sisters and I shopped small in Ironton today, and were surprised at the number of local merchants who had never heard of Small Business Saturday. We were looking forward to browsing in the shops in the city building, but they were shuttered and dark.

There was no indication anywhere in town that anything special was supposed to be happening.

I can say that we all enjoyed our visits to A Touch of Grace, and Merle Norman, and the Hallmark store on Third Street, which are always festive and fun during the holidays. And I’m a big fan of Iron City Hardware, where there’s always someone friendly and courteous to help you find exactly what you need.

It’s hard to understand how a town like ours could fail to take advantage of this opportunity.

It would have been difficult to miss all the national Shop Small advertising explaining how helpful it is for each of us to support our own community’s businesses during this event, even if it means buying only one item in your town instead of at the mall.

This year’s event was actually the second annual Small Business Saturday.

This time next year, I hope our local merchants will make an effort to take advantage of this very good idea and give Ironton residents a chance to show our support for our community.

Abby Fowler, Ironton