Nov. 26—Several of St. Joseph's downtown area stores participated in Saturday's Small Business Saturday events, with many posting sales and specials and decorating for the holidays.

The event, which the St. Joseph Downtown Association sponsors, honors the many small businesses around town and encourages shoppers to shop in the local area.

Joel Barnes, the owner of Bee and Thistle and two other local organizations, stated that he believes supporting small businesses is essential for a strong community.

"(The event) just supports small businesses. We really work in order to provide unique experiences for everybody," he said. "We'd love to see everybody support local, and that's important. Supporting local would be great. It keeps us all open, keeps the doors open, and we want to have a great shopping place for people to come, not only in St. Joe but for traveling around and for visiting other nearby towns."

Annie Corrington, the owner and primary artist of Art Attack Studio, reiterated Barnes's statement, stating that she believes that the downtown area has really come to life.

"I love being downtown, there's just this creative community atmosphere about it," Carrington said. "All of the unique businesses, everything, you know, you can't find these in other cities they're just unique to St. Joe because they're made by people who love St. Joe and live here and want to see it thrive, so I really want people to come downtown and see what's growing. If you haven't been down here in a while, it's really; I think it's really coming to life."

Leo Grantham, a worker at the local Mokaska Coffee Company who spoke on behalf of the organization, further stated that shopping locally is great for the community.

"Not only is (shopping local) important in the context of the local economy, but it's also important in the context of supporting community members in the sense of these spaces are filled with individuals who are trying to better downtown," Grantham said. "Owning a small business is extremely difficult, so giving money where you can is an incredible act of community care."

In addition to all of the work that small businesses are putting into today, the St. Joseph Downtown Association is holding several events throughout the evening hours, including carriage rides, pop-up shops and cocoa until 8 p.m., and a Mr. and Mrs. Claus lighting ceremony with music and fireworks that begins at 5:30 p.m.

More information on Small Business Saturday activities is available at https://stjomo.com/event/small-business-saturday-downtown.

Daniel Slaybaugh can be reached at daniel.slaybaugh@newspressnow.com.