You can lead a horse to water . . .

An interesting thing was brought up at the last Merchant's Meeting -- the fact that the BID and Merchants Groups, the Chamber of Commerce and many others, spend thousands of dollars to get people to the Grove all the time and yet many merchants do nothing to partake of these opportunities.

Many of you don't even put on a funny hat at Madd Hatter Day or even Halloween! Not even red, white and blue on the 4th of July. Not even green on St. Patrick's Day -- simple things like that.

There are all sorts of events planned to bring people here from the Bed Race to the King Mango Strut, to Fourth of July and so on. So much planning goes into each event. And all the business owner has to do is open their doors and participate.

No one is asking the merchants to hang on ladders and put up signs or pay money for advertising or do anything other than be gracious, play along and participate. Earth Hour was a dud for the most part, but those who participated were rewarded with business and happy customers. Aside from the fact whether you believe in the Earth Hour concept or not, that is not the point, the point is that it was to be a Grove event and many just didn't want to deal with it.

Our Chamber is one of the most active anywhere. Most places have Chambers of Commerce that throw a luncheon once in awhile and collect dues and don't do much else. Our Chamber is involved in almost every Grove event, and they don't need to be.

We talk about every event here in the Grapevine, before, during and after the event. There is no reason why anyone can't pick up on this and participate in their own little way. What have you planned for Bike Day on April 26? Thousands of people will be here. What are you going to do to get them to visit your place of business and then have them come back again? This is your opportunity to attract new customers on a regular basis.

The BID, Chamber, Merchants Group, etc. are bringing thousands here (with the Bed Race, 4th of July, Bike Day, Roberta Flack Concert, the monthly Art Stroll -- all this is happening, scroll down, read about it below), they are not asking the merchants for a penny do do this. What are you going to do to accommodate them and make money in the process? Are you literally going to open your doors and invite them in?

You can lead a horse to water (we can bring the crowds here), but you can't make him drink (you need to show them what you have to offer -- force feed them your hospitality, food, drinks, art and wares!)