Dear readers, we meet again. Let me share with you my experiences from this past Saturday. I was relaxing on the sofa, conserving my energy for my next battle with the evil Big Beer, when I heard a loud THUD. The stack of paper that magically appeared in front of me made War and Peace look like a short story. I was staring at the holiday shopping list.
In bold print at the top of the page there were explicit instructions… I felt like I was reading “THE Idiots Guide to shopping”. The header read, and I quote, “Remember, today is Small Business Saturday – everything needs to be bought locally and we have dinner with your parents at 4 p.m.” What type of sadistic task is this?! Trapping a red-nosed reindeer to feature at the brewery’s opening seemed like an easier task. I’ll spare you the entire list, but below is an excerpt to give you a general idea:
- Lamp oil
- American flag
- Alarm clock
- Ice melt for humans and another for pets (yes, our furry friends have their own ice melt)
- Meat thermometer to replace the one I melted (long story)
- Christmas tree stand
- Gumout Fuel Injector/Carburetor Cleaner
- This year’s model shovel for upcoming snow storms
- 1 gallon of satin red paint
- Fishing pole
- Curtain rods and tassels doohickeys either for go-go dancing or the end of curtains
At this point you all feel my pain. This Herculean task, if completed, would be more impressive than a fat man from the North delivering gifts to all the good boys and girls in one night. What I needed was a plan. If comics have taught me anything, I needed to get a light bulb to get an idea. Where in town can I get a light bulb? True Value Hardware at 276 Main Street, Winsted. This is the moment that everything changed for me.
I was greeted with a friendly smile and was politely asked if I needed help finding anything. Yeah, I needed to get a good idea STAT. I was advised “light bulbs aisle 6”. What great service, not often found in big box stores. I grabbed a bulb from the rack, and then it hit me. True value not only carries hand tools, power tools, plumbing/electrical supplies, and paints. They also have a few of My Favorite Things, namely everything that was on my list. Finding the lost city of El Dorado pales in comparison to the joy I felt when everything on my shopping list was found under one roof!
True Value and the Little Red Barn have a lot in common. For example, True Value will sell you a hammer and the LRB gets you hammered (our attorneys have advised us that you need a designated driver). True Value sells pints of paint and we simply sell you pints. True Value can sell you a Phillips screwdriver and the LRB knows a man named Phillip. The similarities are endless.
Just remember this, dear reader… the LRB and True Value of Winsted are a perfect pairing. Before you start any project, grab a brew to relax, make your plan, and then go to True Value to get all you need to complete the project. Later, if you are like me, you can return to the Little Red Barn Brewers to wait for a professional to arrive at your home to fix all you have destroyed.
Stay tuned, dear readers, for future spotlights on our community.
Cheers!
Beer Man