Step-by-step help from a local guy

I’m sure sometime over the past several months you have seen the “shop local” decals and signage displayed at various locations around Porterville. The campaign was an undertaking by our city and Porterville Chamber of Commerce as a way of reminding residents to check out and support our local businesses whenever possible. The Springville Chamber of Commerce has a similar program, as do other communities.

By supporting local businesses you are benefiting everyone in your community. The tax base that provides the needed money for local infrastructure such as roads and parks comes mostly from the dollars that we spend with our local businesses.

I’ve always tried to shop local, whenever possible, and am often pleasantly surprised not only by the competitive pricing but the level of service offered. These folks are our neighbors and friends. It matters to them if you have a good experience.

Recently my son, Riley, and I undertook a sizable project well out of my scope of experience. We had purchased an old golf cart and decided to refurbish it. The biggest challenge was to make this patchwork of colors into something resembling a decent paint job. I jumped on the Internet to do some quick research and soon discovered the process of painting sheet metal with an automotive paint was much more difficult than I had anticipated.

Apprehensive, but not wanting to disappoint my son, I went to one of our local businesses that specializes in this type of application, Lalanne’s Glass and Paint. I explained to co-owner, Gary Lalanne, the nature of my undertaking, and he was eager to help. This is where the local part kicks in. I explained to Gary that I had absolutely no experience with this type of paint application, and he quickly settled my fears by saying, “We’ll just take this one step at a time. Don’t worry I’ll just be a phone call away if you hit a snag.”

Over the next few weeks, Gary would take extra time with me and school me, step-by-step through the process. Through the prep to the final finish, he didn’t overwhelm me with information. He took his time and led me through the processes. At each step along the way I was able to take the knowledge learned from Lalanne and share it with my son, who did the greater portion of the work refurbishing the golf cart.

This week we put the final coat on the cart and it looks great! Riley did a wonderful job, we both learned a new skill, and as a father, I enjoyed seeing the sense of pride and accomplishment in my son as he completed each step.

Special thanks to Gary and the crew at Lalanne’s for all the extra time and effort. I’ve had other great experiences and heard similar stories from others about our local businesses. Remember it’s important to support our local businesses. As I stated earlier, these folks are our friends and they are our neighbors. They live and work in our communities. The service, professionalism and just plain old neighborly courtesy and adviice will make the experience well worth it.

Mark Fazzone is Publisher of The Porterville Recorder. Send e-mail to mfazzone@portervillerecorder.com.