To the Editor:

Last year, my wife and I announced our decision to get married in Isle of Wight, but beyond that, we made the conscious choice to only hire vendors for our wedding that were Isle of Wight businesses.

From the church (St. Luke’s) to the wedding reception (Smithfield Inn), the photographer, florist, hotels and more … all call Isle of Wight their home.

We felt that to use any other outside firms would be a disservice to our county at a time when our county’s businesses need our support more than ever. In letters to newspapers, I asked others to join me and challenged readers to find ways to do the same thing, and, thankfully, some listened.

Great kudos to Paul Roushia and Nigel Rhodes for choosing to use only local workers and companies to build their new facility in Walters.

Though this alone won’t be enough to make up for the loss of the iconic paper mill, every dollar spent in our back yard counts toward rebuilding the county’s economic picture and building a stronger infrastructure for the future.

If you see Paul or Nigel, shake their hand. Then, come up with your own way to meet our challenge. What can you come up with to boost our local businesses?

Dave Lyons

Smithfield