Thursday, January 6, 2011

Help Wanted; Prize Offered

Dear Friends,

Some of you may recall my attempt last year to start a new feature entitled "Sightseeing by the Seasons." I'm here to let you know that while this feature hasn't had it's time to shine yet, I haven't given up. But in order to make this feature a reality, I need your help!

What I need from you is some assistance in finding various out-of-the-way, small town shops and businesses that I can spotlight on my blog. Each person who successfully gets me connected/in contact with one of these locally owned and operated-type businesses will be entered in a drawing. The prize? Well, if you take a look to the right of the screen you should see a poll near the top of the sidebar. Whichever prize gets the most votes is the prize you can win! (However, I will certainly be open to hearing which of these prizes the winner specifically wants to win; mainly, the poll will help me know which prizes my readers would like to win in the future.)

Right now I'm looking for some winter and spring-related businesses. Some examples would be year-round Christmas stores, rural garden shops, small town florists, lodges/restaurants, etc. Feel free to be creative in your connections to the seasons!

Here are the rules to be entered in the drawing:
  • Leave a comment or e-mail me with the name and contact information of a business that fits the criteria mentioned in the paragraph above. If you know the shop (etc.) owner personally and could get the business to e-mail me, so much the better!
  • Only those who successfully get me in contact with a business that I can and will feature on this blog will be entered. (If I never hear back from the business, that entry won't count.)
  • You can enter as many times as you like! One entry for each business I can interview and feature on my blog.
  • If I find more than 5 businesses to feature on my blog in the coming months, I will pick 2 winners instead of just 1!
  • The drawing closes Friday, January 21st, and the winner(s) will be announced on Saturday, January 22nd.
If you talk to the business owners first, feel free to direct them to my blog--to the "Sightseeing by the Seasons" page. There is a description of the feature there. In entering this drawing, you can either e-mail me, leave a comment on the feature's page, or leave a comment here. If the business owner(s) contact me in your place, just have them let me know who told them about the feature.

Thank you very much for your help! I look forward to working with you to promote the small town businesses we love and to journey across America (and maybe Canada) together!

Sincerely,
The Blog Author

*Update: The giveaway winner(s) announcement has been postponed until further notice. Entries will still be accepted until that announcement.*

11 comments:

Diane said...

I am personal friends with the owner of this shop. She is also a Christian. Her jewelry is so Springy to me.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/twillypop

Diane said...

Here's another special gal that I love:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/suchaprettydress

Let me know if you want to contact her. :O)

Ariel Wilson said...

The only place I can think of is our floral shop, and they have such gorgeous spring bouquets! Here's the website:

http://dallasfloralor.com/

Good luck :)

Amber Holcomb said...

Diane,

Thanks for the heads up! I think those outfits look very cute and springy, especially since it looks like they're all for little girls. :) Very cute!

I was wondering...does this person have an actual store, or is it all online? I don't think it's bad to feature some online shops that specialize in hand-crafted items, although my hope is to mainly feature rural/small town businesses in little out-of-the-way places. I'd love to know more, though! You could just respond back in this comments section, or e-mail me at:

stokes[dot]a[at]suddenlink[dot]net

Thanks so much for your time and your suggestions! :)

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Ariel,

That sounds great, especially since Dallas is a pretty small town, right? Do you happen to know the owner or anyone who works there? I confess that I prefer e-mail, although I think I'll have to get over my slight phobia with calling strangers eventually. ;) Let me know!

Thanks for your suggestion! I think a florist would be perfect for the springtime. :)

~Amber

Amanda Stanley said...

Oh, I wish I could think of something! I'm gonna try to keep my eyes open for you, my friend, and if I see something or think of something I'll shoot you an email, okay? This is a very cool idea and I hope you find what you need :)

Blessings,
Amanda

P.S.- Still praying :)

Kav said...

This is a great idea. I'll have to put my thinking cap on and see if I can come up with a store that also has a website.

:-)

Julia M. Reffner said...

This is a neat idea, Amber. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before (sorry if I already did), but have you checked out Roadfood.com. It has discussion forums and information on local eateries that somewhat off the beaten path. You might find your town there :)

Nick Tahou's is a local favorite which does remind me of winter break because we would all this when we returned from campus after break. This restaurant is the originator of the garbage plate. Someone even Wiki'ed it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Tahou_Hots

There are some other odd college traditions including a University of Rochester Nick Tahou's race.

Here's the website:
http://www.garbageplate.com/

And here's the address and phone number:
320 W. Main St.
Rochester, NY 14608

585-436-0184

Praying today :)

Amber Holcomb said...

Amanda,

Thank you--I appreciate it! :) I kind of prefer doing interviews over e-mail, so if you happen to know of a place that offers an e-mail address in their "Contact Us" information, that would be even better. ;)

~Amber

P.S. Thank you so much for your prayers! I'll have to e-mail you again soon. :)

Amber Holcomb said...

Kav,

Thank you! It'd be great to feature some Canadian out-of-the-way places, too! :)

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Julia,

Thank you! You did mention that site before, but thanks for mentioning it again! :) It definitely sounds like a good resource.

That one restaurant sounds really interesting! Do you think they would be willing to be featured on a blog? If you could maybe share some thoughts on it, too, in a post (if I do end up featuring it), that would be great!

It'll probably be a little bit before I follow up on all of these leads, but I'll let you know! ;)

~Amber

P.S. Thank you very much for the prayers!