Join the Effingham Chamber of Commerce for the finale of the 5th Annual Holiday Shopping Tour in Rincon from 3-9 p.m. Friday.

Pick up your passport at one of the participating retailers below and don’t forget you need 15 businesses to sign your passport for a chance to win a $500 gift basket. Visit the Chamber headquarters in front of New Life Florist to get a map of the participating Rincon retailers and a chance to win door prizes.

Gifts can be wrapped on the steps of First Baptist Church of Rincon.
Participating retailers are: Gnann’s Fix-It Shop; Butterducks Winery;  Deja Vu Boutique; Simply Southern; 2 Fiddler’s Crafts; Curiosity Shoppe Jewelers; Faithful Cuts; Farmer’s Home Furniture; Glaze Beauty boutique and Day Spa; La Dee Da Children’s Consignment Boutique; Mary Kay by Donna Davis; Merle Norman Cosmetics; The Chameleon’s Closet; Walt’s TV, Furniture and Appliance; Springfield Paint Center; Phillips Flooring; Rincon Packaging & Shipping; S&P Automotive Specialists; Sweetpea’s; Teach Right!; Wiley’s Home Center; Medicap Pharmacy; Ever After Bridal; Fulcher’s Signs & Graphix; Hey Beautiful! Salon; Historic Effingham Museum; JoAnn’s Florist; Papa’s Pizza; Sheila’s Cakes & Moore; One of a Kind; New Life Flowers and Gifts; Napa Auto Parts.    

By shopping locally in Effingham County, you:
1. Protect local character and prosperity.
Effingham County is unlike any other community in the area. By choosing to support locally owned businesses, you help maintain Effingham County’s diversity and distinctive flavor;

2. Support community well-being
Locally owned businesses build strong neighborhoods by sustaining communities, linking neighbors, and by contributing more to local causes and charities.

3. Impact local decision making
Local ownership means that important decisions are made locally by people who live in the community and who will feel the impacts of those decisions.

4. Keep dollars in the local economy
When your dollars are spent in another community, those dollars stay in that community. The sales tax generated goes to paying for their roads, schools and parks. In fact, your dollars spent in locally-owned businesses have three times the impact on your community as dollars spent even at national chains. When shopping locally, you simultaneously create jobs, fund more city services through sales tax, invest in neighborhood improvement and promote community development all of which help to promote your quality of life in your community.

5. Support jobs and wages
Locally owned businesses create jobs locally. You’ll be helping not only your neighbor, but you will be helping to improve your quality of life as well.

For more information contact the Chamber at 754-3301 or visit the Web site at www.EffinghamCounty.com