Words of encouragement matter, but purchases are even better

Well, since you brought it up.

“Hope the T-shirt thing is rolling along,” a friend texted to me in September.

A relative shot me a similar note more recently.

“What you’re doing is great, keep up the good work!”

I have no doubt as to the sincerity of those sentiments and truly do appreciate them. It’s just that idle words do little to support Stay’s mission.

It reminds me of a quote from the cult comedy movie, “Waiting for Guffman.” Christopher Guest’s character, Corky St. Clair, requests $100,000 to fund a community theater production, eliciting only laughter from town leaders.

“So now I’m left basically with nothin’,” he laments. “I’m left with zero. And which, and which, what can I do with zero? You know what, what can I — I can’t do anything with it.”

Corky calls them “bastard people,” threatens to abandon the musical, and vows to “bite my pillow, is what I’m gonna do.”

More than tee shirts

I’m not calling anyone names, and I’m not asking for a hundred grand, but how about purchasing a $25 T-shirt that’s U.S.-made and Lancaster, Pa.-printed? To those people who feel that they need another tee like they need another hole in the head, I say we have a ball cap or knit hat to cover those extra holes.

If you don’t need a tee, then how about buying one as a gift? Or perhaps we can interest you in something else: We offer everything from $5 bottle opener/keychains and $10 pint glasses to $15 canvas bags and $15 or $20 felt pennants. We have bottle opener dog collars for $22 and sweatshirts for $35.

Every bit helps Stay, and every time you buy Made in the USA products — which is to say anything we sell — you boost the fortunes of American workers and American communities. How’s that for a feel-good story?

Make no mistake, many people, from family and friends to complete strangers, have given of their hard-earned money in support of Stay. We are greatly appreciative of every single one of them.

But if your investment in Stay is zero, what can I do with zero? Nothing much.

I wouldn’t dare threaten to go home; there are too many shows ahead, too many opportunities to tell the Stay story and possibly sell a tee or two or three.

But if I can’t get you off zero and convert you to a paying customer, then I might have to bite my pillow.

It has our custom USA pennant on it. You should buy one.