Over the years that I have been writing this article, there have been many occasions when I have shared with you my love for this community.

I guess I am a bit of a sentimentalist, but I won’t apologize for that. I admit it was the beauty of the trees and pastures that originally brought me here nearly 25 years ago, but it is each of you that now makes me feel bound to this place. I always wanted to grow roots. Now I have, and they grow deep.

For the past 12 and a half years that I have enjoyed owning and operating Country Pet Shoppe, my business buddy was Dave Hildebrand across the street at Sacks Feed and Garden.

We had a bit of friendly competition, but mostly we supported each other and shared our small-town business experience together. When I didn’t have a product someone was looking for, I sent them to Dave. When I needed an emergency roll of cash register paper, I went to Dave. And he did the same back at me.

I always felt like Sacks was part of the heart of our town, and Dave and Kathleen were what made that heart beat. In addition to feeding many of my critters over the years, many of my favorite Christmas decorations came from Sacks, and I treasure them each year as I place them around my home. So I think you can imagine how it breaks my heart that Sacks closed. If you were a customer of Sacks, then I know you’re going to miss them too.

With Sacks gone, there are plenty of chickens, horses, goats, and other critters that need to know where to get their dinner. Country Pet Shoppe has acquired Sacks’ feeds and now all of their livestock feeds — regular and organic — as well as their dog foods and wild bird supplies are now at Country Pet Shoppe. It has been a very busy month and we still aren’t done. I have learned a lot this past month — like just how much space eight tons of feed takes up, and just how good we are at crunching things into a little space, and that if you are going to put a sign in a business window you need to make all the lettering large enough to be read from a passing car or people will guess at what it says. (No, it does not say we are moving into the Sacks building — we’re staying put).

For those of you who are wondering about the Kingston Farm and Garden Co-op, they are out there spreading their wings and gaining momentum as a co-op entity. I encourage you to go to their website, www.growkingston.org, to learn more about what they are up to. Currently they are working on supplying hay. We don’t have that yet.

I am very excited for Dave and his new career direction. I wish him all the best as he pursues his new endeavor. I wish the best to Kathleen too; and if you need a pet sitter, I have her number. No one can replace the special place that was Sacks. We can only do our best to keep the local critters fed and share a little love of our own.