When trying to support local merchants, it’s helpful to know that some stores you might think are chains are in actuality still independently owned. Such is the case with Ace Hardware stores, many of which were already small hometown operations before taking on the “Ace” name and inventory. My go-to hardware store is the family-owned Mission Ace on Hwy. 12 in Santa Rosa, which began life as a downtown Santa Rosa institution known as Levine’s Hardware, on Fourth Street. In the 1970s, when 12 square blocks of downtown were zoned for redevelopment to make way for the mall, the owners of Levine’s Hardware didn’t tear down their building. Instead, they cut it in two, put it on the back of a flatbed truck, and slowly moved it three miles down the road to its current location. Go there now and you’ll find the old wooden sidewalk transformed into a wraparound front porch, and you’ll see the old paint loft from Levine’s still intact. What also hasn’t changed is the helpful one-on-one service. I don’t know how many curveballs I’ve thrown at their employees over the years, but they always find me what I need—after all, the family has been in the hardware business since 1960. Tools, paint, electrical, plumbing, lumber—you name it, they know it, and they’ve even got an expansive Garden Loft perfect for perusing on weekends, when there are free coffee and donuts at the front door. Before you ask, yes, the beautiful old green 1947 Ford truck is still used for deliveries, but no, you can’t drive it. I’ve been asking for 12 years! 4310 Hwy. 12, Santa Rosa, 707.539.7070.

The 25 Days Project is an online series through the month of December spotlighting some of our favorite local businesses. Read more about the project here, and about our commitment to shopping locally here.

For the longest time, I wondered where to get my lawnmower blade sharpened. If you mow a lawn, you know how it can get. Whole swaths of thick grass “chunked” instead of cut. Patterns of swirl atop seas of green. A slow, sand-in-the-gastank-like chugging slog while heaving your clunky relic across the front yard. Sigh. A perfect lawn not being my top priority, I went about my search for a fix in the most lackadaisical manner possible. To wit, I asked someone every four months or so where I could get a lawnmower blade sharpened. All of them said Gardener’s Aid, in Roseland. It was another four months before I stopped by. They were friendly. They were funny. They had a showroom full of mowers and weed whackers and trimmers and parts and accessories thereof, along with some newspaper clippings about their family in the window and some old stuff tacked to the wall behind the counter. I asked about the blade sharpening. “Seven bucks if you bring it in off the mower,” they said, “$12.50 if you need us to pull it off.” Not only am I headed there as soon as the rain stops with a haggard, blunt blade, I’ll be checking out the rest of their inventory, too. 1050 Sebastopol Road, Santa Rosa, 707.545.7620.

The 25 Days Project is an online series through the month of December spotlighting some of our favorite local businesses. Read more about the project here, and about our commitment to shopping locally here.

The last thing a new parent wants is to be is overwhelmed. You think staying up all night and dealing with crying for hours is calming? You are either a Zen master, or don’t have a kid. That’s why, once, I stood in the aisles of some huge impersonal store full of baby stuff, unable to find anything I needed, unable to find any help, and walked out and drove straight to Wee Three Children’s Store. Finally, a simple, manageable shop with plenty of kids’ clothes and shoes and toys, with an inventory that wasn’t cookie-cutter but instead hand-selected by someone who obviously knows kids. There was even a used section, which, if I were President, every children’s store would be required to have. With the help of the person behind the counter, I found a perfect little pair of shoes that instantly attracted compliments. In short (no pun intended), a good little place that I wound up telling all my fellow parents about—and they, with bleary eyes and slurred speech, thanked me. 1007 West College Ave., Santa Rosa, 707.525.9333.

The 25 Days Project is an online series through the month of December spotlighting some of our favorite local businesses. Read more about the project here, and about our commitment to shopping locally here.

We had our Christmas early this year, and my mom gave me the best present—a Sonoma County Regional Parks Pass gift card that I can redeem anytime during 2013 for a full year of access to the 55 parks in our brilliant, widespread regional parks system. Some of my favorite spots make the list: Helen Putnam in Petaluma, Riverfront outside of Healdsburg, Spring Lake, Doran (with a long stretch of sandy beach, it’s perfect for dogs and kids), Crane Creek (Frisbee Golf!), Hood Mountain (Hobbit-land), Ragle Ranch and so much more. It’s the perfect present for nature lovers, people with dogs (unlike state parks, most regional parks allow dogs on leash), and people who like to meander through trees rather than do death marches up mountains. With a baby on the way in January, the park will give us access to a summer of easy hikes with babe in tow, and across the greater North Bay. The pass costs $69—a bargain when you think about all of the adventures in store during a full year of use. Gift cards are the way to go because then the recipient can choose to register for the pass whenever they want. I’m waiting until March, when the whether starts to clear up and the hills and valleys begin to beckon. Gift cards can be purchased online, or locally at Oliver’s Markets in Santa Rosa and Cotati, Sebastopol Hardware Center, Frizelle Enos Feeds or Sonoma Outfitters. 145 Third Street, Santa Rosa. 707.528.1920.

The 25 Days Project is an online series through the month of December spotlighting some of our favorite local businesses. Read more about the project here, and about our commitment to shopping locally here.

Dear Lord, please do not ever let Corrick’s close. My house is redolent with its inventory: Pilot G2 pens, envelopes, Sharpies, legal forms, a stuffed Snuffleupagus puppet, maps, cards, Little Golden books, paper clips, tape, padded manila envelopes, picture hangers. I still remember the first thing I ever bought there—a ribbon for my Olympia typewriter. (I still buy the same ribbon there for my Royal.) I pine for the days of buying rub-on lettering there. I will never forget the saleslady’s sympathetic look one Christmas when she told me they were sold out of sweater lint shavers. One night, I got to talking with a fellow customer about this ‘n’ that, and soon we were talking about Santa Rosa, and next thing I knew it turned out she went to high school with my dad; it’s that type of place. I love that no one ever quits, and that their back room has one of those great old bank safe doors, and that they’re coming up on their 100th anniversary. And like a lot of other Santa Rosans, I always walk in and think to myself, “Maybe someday I’ll buy something from the front half of the store.” 637 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 707.546.2424.

The 25 Days Project is an online series through the month of December spotlighting some of our favorite local businesses. Read more about the project here, and about our commitment to shopping locally here.

When my husband wanted to buy my two-year old, board-obsessed nephew his first skateboard, he didn’t go to Walmart or Costco or Toys R’ Us to pick up a cheaply made knock-off version of the real thing. Instead, he headed over to Brotherhood Board Shop in Santa Rosa, where he bought a sweet deck—all set up with Bones wheels and high-quality trucks—for under $100. Owned by Jon Lohne, a longtime Santa Rosa skateboarder who can be seen at backyard skate ramps and underground ledge spots (or riding around on his refurbished mopeds) as often as he can be seen in the actual store, Brotherhood is everything that a skateboard shop should be. Stop in to pick up decks—by Krooked, Antihero, Plan B, Girl and more—flatbars, trucks, wheels, shoes, hats, cruisers, grip tape, clothing, backpacks, skate DVDs and pretty much anything else that the skateboarder or snowboarder in your life wants and needs. The store also hosts video premieres—most recently of the rad Girl- and Chocolate Skateboards-produced video “Pretty Sweet,” which features one of the best opening shots ever. In the summer, the shop brims with kids, young and old, busting out tricks in the parking lot at regularly hosted skate contests. And what’s better than awesome service from people who leave, breathe and eat skateboarding? 1240 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa. 707.546.0660.

The 25 Days Project is an online series through the month of December spotlighting some of our favorite local businesses. Read more about the project here, and about our commitment to shopping locally here.