ESCANABA — As we all move into the new year, one of the things that most of are spending some time doing is tying up the loose ends of 2023 and things are no different for us here at the Delta County Chamber of Commerce.

For us, one of those “loose ends” was a very happy one. We were able to figure out the winner of our first ever Sleigh the Deals promotion and help get that person’s year off to a very good start with a $1,000 prize.

But before we just tell you who the winner was and spoil the surprise (Yes, we know you could just jump to the end of the article but what fun would that be?) let’s take a moment to reflect on a couple of things.

We live in a divided society. There’s really no arguing about it, although, as a sign of the times, someone probably wants to disagree with me about that. Take your pick of a dozen subjects and you can find people who will wholeheartedly agree or disagree with you on anything. We’ve all seen it and dealt with it. The art of the compromise seems to be a quaint idea from times gone by.

But there is one thing that applies to almost everyone reading this. In a time when common ground is hard to find, there is one thing that I think we all share. Everyone reading this either lives here in Delta County or has some sort of tie to the area.

Our home is our common ground regardless of how you feel about any other subject. Whether that home is a house out in Stonington or over in the Riverlands. An apartment on Ludington Street or a home on the Bluff in Gladstone, they all have one thing in common and that is being here and anything that we can all do to make here a better place for all of us can’t be a bad thing.

And what’s the one thing we can all do to help out? We can shop locally. I bet you didn’t see that coming. Shopping locally helps our area prosper. It allows people to get good paying jobs and not feel like they need to leave the area. It encourages people to chase their dreams and open new businesses. It helps in ways too numerous to list. It might be cliche but remember that a rising tide lifts all ships.

But you get the point. This is the first column of the new year and I don’t want to wear out my welcome already by telling you something that I think you already know. Besides, I think a lot of you are reading this looking for a very specific piece of information so let’s get to it.

Our Sleigh the Deals promotion has come to an end and here are some final numbers. Here at the Chamber of Commerce we had $121,656.82 worth of receipts turned in for the contest. There were over 60 participants who shopped at almost 140 different Delta County businesses. Eight people qualified to be in the drawing for the grand prize of $1,000 and after the dust settled your winner was Marie Kwarciany of Gladstone. Thank you to Marie and her fellow shoppers for being a great examples of that rising tide that can help us all.

The Delta County Chamber of Commerce would like to thank all the sponsors who helped us bring this promotion to the community. They include the Escanaba Downtown Development Authority, the Community Foundation for Delta County, the City of Gladstone, the Rapid River Business Association, the Island Resort & Casino, Radio Results Network, Crawford Funeral Homes, and the Delta County Economic Development Authority.

And for those of you who are wondering, plans are already in the works to bring back a bigger and better Sleigh the Deals event in 2024.

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Mark Cowman is with the Delta County Chamber of Commerce