Making the Rounds: Carol Jones and Busch's

I want to take some time today, to recognize a highly valuable citizen, and business in Dexter, Michigan

Today marks Carol Jones' final day working at National City Bank in Dexter. She is retiring.

Also, today, I received word that Busch's markets are restoring the 5% Scrips fundraising program for the Dexter 8th Grade trip to Washington, DC.

It was my privilege to work with Carol for one year, at the Dexter Area Chamber of Commerce. She is an entire beehive of activity, in one person. Carol can be seen working ceaselessly at community events. She was instrumental in creating the back-office operation of the Chamber of Commerce. She has toiled for years, mostly without credit, and certainly without being paid much - for the thing she loves most of all, our community of Dexter, Michigan. Such things as the Victorian Christmas and holiday lighting, annual Chamber Golf Outing, Apple Daze and Ice Cream Social, have been kept afloat during hard times, through the nearly single-handed devotion of Carol.

Carol is a Dexter native, coming from the prominent farming family: the Masts. She is an alumna of Dexter High School. She taught home economics at Dexter High School for several years, before embarking on a career as a restaurateur. Dexter's first "real" restaurant, the Captain's Table, was opened and operated by Carol, thus bringing more families downtown and starting a long and positive trend for our quality of life, that continues to this day.

And there is not enough space to list all of her achievements and activities on behalf of Dexter. Thank you, Carol, and best of luck for continued success.

Next, I want to thank Busch's Markets, for restoring the 5% Scrips fundraiser. This program enables people to code their child's name to a gift card, so that any time the card is used, 5% of the purchases goes into an account to pay for their school event. In my case, I am building up funds for my daughter's 8th grade DC trip in April of 09.

Times are tough, and Busch's made the difficult decision of cuting the 5% benefit, to 1%. 1% is not worth using Busch's instead of a lower-priced competitor. People shop at Busch's because of the nice, clean atmosphere and friendly staff. They also appreciate Busch's support for the community, to the tune of over $100,000 a year in Dexter alone.

But for many families, the drop to 1% was very hurtful. Times are tough for us, too, and we appreciated Busch's stepping in to help with this excellent program that allows us to raise funds doing what we are already doing: buying groceries!

I spoke to a lot of parents that were upset by this move, over the summer. People sent letters to Busch's corporate office, completed surveys, complained to managers.

And finally, Busch's proved that they really do listen to their customers!

Busch's and Carol Jones. These are two local citizens that make Dexter a better place.

Be sure to say thank you to Carol when you see her in town. And also, say a nice word to Dennis Blanchard at Busch's, and be sure to continue to spend your money there!