It was just after 8 p.m. on a December Saturday night a few years ago, and it was snowing hard. The kind of snow I love to walk in. The kind of snow that goes down the back of your neck, that sticks to your nose. A snowstorm you probably should stay home for.

But I was in a walking mood. Seeing this shoveler on Wellsboro’s Main Street, suddenly I was a child again. My parents owned a local movie theater, hometown restaurant, and charter bus company in Mansfield. We worked hard to make those good places for families to gather, no matter the holiday, no matter the weather. Plenty of times we’d have rather been home on the couch, but that’s not the life of people who own small town businesses.

So that night in the snowstorm watching a business owner shoveling the sidewalk so that customers could come out for a relaxing night, I knew the dedication it took. The Open sign was hung. Inside staff were waiting for us to arrive. No matter the weather. No matter the holiday.