Shopping

Dear Editor, If you want to eat out or buy something, how much extra will it cost you to drive to Lexington, Nicholasville, Lancaster — or even out to the Danville Bypass if you live downtown or on the east or north side of Danville? The real cost of driving is about 45 cents a mile when you figure in gasoline, insurance, depreciation, etc. And this doesn’t count the time it takes to get there and back. So, if you want to buy a bottle of wine, it would cost you an extra $21.60 beyond the price of the bottle (and about 70 minutes of your time)

Nicholasville's Trystan Jackson participated in a shopping spree last Friday, courtesy of The Dream Factory. The Dream Factory was founded in 1980 in Hopkinsville, by Charles Henault. Today, through over 38 chapters nationwide, including the Lexington, Kentucky chapter, the Dream Factory grants dreams to children who have been diagnosed with critical or chronic illnesses. Trystan, 12, was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in April and has since undergone several treatments.

Funds are down, but Clark County's Shop with a Cop program will continue as planned. Members of Winchester-Clark County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 34 are still planning to take approximately 200 local children shopping for Christmas at 7 a.m. Dec. 20 at Kmart in Winchester. Clark County Sheriff Berl Perdue Jr., the lodge president, said the economy has made a difference in the group's fund-raising efforts this year. "Funds are a little down this year with the economy, like everything," Perdue said.

Dear Editor: The Wilderness Trace FOP 69 would like to thank those who contributed to our annual "Shop with a Cop" program this past Christmas. With your support, we were able to take 72 children Christmas shopping for clothes and toys. A special thanks goes to Wal-Mart for their help in making this program possible. We would also like to thank Burger King for providing each child with a free meal. Once again, thank-you to everyone for their continued support. Tom Bustle, president Wilderness Trace FOP 69 Danville

God help me, I hate to shop. Lines, no lines. It doesn't matter. Money, no money. I don't care. If I were rich, I'd hire someone to shop for me. Since I'm not, I try to get out of it on the cheap. I know it's a bit of a trite exaggeration to say, "I'd rather take a beating," but that best describes the eagerness with which I approach the task of shopping, especially at this time of year. Shopping, you understand, requires more that just buying something. I'm OK with the go-get-a-gallon-of-milk instruction.

God help me, I hate to shop. Lines, no lines. It doesn't matter. Money, no money. I don't care. If I were rich, I'd hire someone to shop for me. Since I'm not, I try to get out of it on the cheap. I know it's a bit of a trite exaggeration to say, "I'd rather take a beating," but that best describes the eagerness with which I approach the task of shopping, especially at this time of year. Shopping, you understand, requires more that just buying something. I'm OK with the go-get-a-gallon-of-milk instruction.

Dear Editor: Youth in the Danville-Boyle County area are often faced with the fact that there's just not a lot to do at night without going out of town. The Danville Manor Shopping Center has been a local hangout for years and is a place where kids can just hang out. Lately, police have started to have a problem with this for basically no reason. They have been making everyone leave because of the actions of a small group of trouble makers. That's like making everyone park their car because one person gets a speeding ticket.

Dear Editor: In response to comments in the Feb. 4 paper on inmates shopping at Wal-Mart, I have one main question. Does the writer fear for the inmates or himself? The system should take offense at his criticism of the guard. He must not understand the personal search that the inmates go through before and after anything and everything they get to do out of the normal daily routine. He is also ignorant to the fact that these men are on "outside detail" and have the ability to actually walk off if they are not determined to do their time.

Black Friday may mark the traditional beginning of the retail holiday shopping frenzy, but the Monday after Thanksgiving is becoming known as Cyber Monday because consumers surf for online discounts. Online Web retailers prepare for Cyber Monday by offering special promotions. Offers range from discounts, free shipping, and gifts with purchases. Many consumers will surf the Web to find those special items that may not be sold in department stores. Popular items include electronics, food and beverages such as special wines, furniture, home dcor and gourmet items.

Christmas came early for 125 children Saturday morning as members of the Jessamine County law-enforcement community strolled through the aisles of Walmart with the kids during the 11th annual Shop with a Cop event. “This is something we look forward to every year,” Nicholasville police Cpl. Ben Rugg said. “The officers really enjoy doing this, and it's nice when you get to take a child who didn't think they were going to have something and they end up having a Christmas. So it's really nice.” Sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Police, the event involved officers from agencies throughout Jessamine County who took children shopping through the store.

STANFORD - More than a dozen Kentucky state troopers responded to the Stanford Walmart Saturday morning, but there were no crimes in progress or any shady business going on. The troopers were on-hand to help 66 local children do some memorable Christmas shopping. Kentucky State Police spokesman Paul Blanton said 2012 was a very successful year for his organization's annual "Shop With a Trooper" event. In all, the local KSP post provided free Christmas gifts and clothes to 141 children at the Richmond and Stanford Walmarts.

The Clark County Shop with a Cop program will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year with a drop in donations. Clark County Sheriff Berl Perdue said Clark County has always supported Shop with a Cop, but economic uncertainty has led to limited funding for the 2012 event. “We think it's just the economy,”¿Perdue said. “Expendable income is just not there.” Each year, children are nominated for the program by school officials to be partnered with a local law enforcement official for Christmas shopping.

By 6 a.m. today, hundreds of people packed the parking lot and stores in Danville Manor, especially JCPenney. “Black Friday” is the busiest shopping day of the year and people of all ages tend to flock to stores in the pre-dawn hours in hopes of snagging a great deal, primarily on electronics and apparel. Some people, like the Johnson family from Georgia, make it not only a family event but begin their search for bargains on Thanksgiving Day. Krystal Johnson and her teenage sons Tyler and Toney are visiting Crab Orchard resident Jackie Strickland.

At the end of last week's column, I mentioned that this week I'd fill you in on the details of the Black Friday Book Sale the library will be having at the end of this week. So, here are the details. This coming Friday and Saturday, Nov. 23-24, we'll be having a dollar a bag book sale in the library community room from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Dollar a bag? Yes, it's true. Come on down!  This book sale is open to the public.  You don't have to be a member of any particular organization.

A fundraiser by one organization has led to a donation to other community organizations, spreading the benefits across Boyle County. American Legion Post 18 in Stanford raffled off a shopping spree for Kroger, which was won by Joe Teague.  Teague, a parishioner of S.S. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Danville, opted to pass his winnings along to Soups on Us, an organization based out of the church that delivers soups and sandwiches one...

I can agree 100 percent with Mr. Clark. These companies think we are stupid. The gas they had in the tank should have been sold with the previously posted price. Even that was gouging. One retailer can go up, and every one in the area goes up. No reason except to get all they can. I have found if I drive to Junction City, they are always a little lower. This same store he is referring to has done some other things that stink. A few weeks ago, they had blueberries in the small cartons for $1.68.

I am tentatively dipping my toe into the new car waters. People have been asking me how the search is going, and I'm hesitant to respond because I admit, I haven't been very proactive. While Brandon has been researching cars online, I have done nothing, except wonder if it's normal for my car to shake while driving down the interstate. This past week, though, I decided I had put things off long enough. While Brandon was working late, I drove over to a local car lot and determined that I could at least narrow my options, even if I didn't make a final decision.

The subject for this article presented itself in the form of a curious photograph on the Internet at the Kentuckiana Digital Library. The photo is labeled “Beau Brothers Carriage Shop” and is credited to the noted Winchester photographer A. J. Earp. A search for the Beau brothers in newspapers, city directories and the census turned up nothing. There is, however, a prominent Clark County family with a close spelling, Bean, which could have been misread if someone transcribed a cursive “n” as a “u.” In 1903, Matt Bean and Waller Bean, “a firm doing business as Bean Brothers,” purchased the old Methodist Church at the northeast corner of Lexington Avenue and Wall Alley.

It has been said that timing is everything. If so, opening a new boutique downtown just in time for the Great American Brass Band Festival was nothing short of a brilliant business strategy, especially considering the men's and women's fashions inside are ready-to-wear perfect for just such an occasion. “Yeah, we are excited,” Jonathan McWilliams said just before The Clothes Horse opened last week. He co-owns the store located at 115 N. Third St. with his wife, Whitney.