The gift of Christmas music
Christmas can be a magical time. I don’t mean all the madness over buying and giving gifts. It is the magic in the music. I remember those days when we all hummed the same songs. So many songs and singers come back from our yesterdays, to greet us again. Yet, there’s a deeper message here. When Nat Cole sings again The Christmas Song, we should remember his father was a Christian pastor in Chicago, and Nat first learned music in the church. Perry Como surely came Home For The Holidays to a family of poor Italian immigrants from Canonsburg, PA. Peggy Lee rang Jingle Bells as a farm girl in North Dakota. Bing Crosby, had a few White Christmas days in Tacoma, Washington, where his Irish-immigrant father built their house. And who wrote more famous and loving songs of the holiday season than Irving Berlin? A Jewish immigrant to New York. The songs are rich, varied and beautiful. But the greatest story is the music that made us one comes from our rich and diverse history. We should not forget this Christmas gift, the whole year round.
Richard Iaconelli
Rhawnhurst
Look for the label
Thanks to everyone promoting the importance of supporting local businesses and the American workers they employ. Each of us has seen that shopping in America has changed in recent years. Many people prefer to shop at local brick and mortar stores where they can see the items before they make a purchase. Some consumers shop for a portion of their needs on the internet and have the items delivered to them. However you choose to shop, seek out items made and assembled in America, where we know workers are employed from the point of production to the point of sale.
Supporters of the Buy American Made Campaign are urging all Americans to promote December as National Small Business Month. As often as possible, look for the Made in America label that we know reflects the workmanship and livelihoods of our fellow Americans who represent our families, friends and neighbors.
In the last 35 years, as the global economy grew, the American people have seen that foreign merchandisers are working hard to have the products they represent available everywhere Americans shop. Our goal is to restore more industries in the United States and return to no less than a 50-50 balance of products made in America available for sale everywhere Americans shop.
We can all see that it is mainly up to America’s consumers to lead the way to support American workers, which is very important so we can see more American-made items returning to store shelves. Thanks for your participation.
Kindly welcome your family and friends to visit our Internet site, AmericanWorkersRadio.com, which is also linked to our December effort, NationalSmallBusinessMonth.com. Your comments and suggestion are always welcome. Email [email protected].
Michael Blichasz
American Workers Radio, 860 AM
