City's Downtown Businesses Go to School

Mitzi Saxon is marking her first year as Woodstock's downtown business association's cheerleader by staging a business expo for students at Woodstock High School.

The event, planned for Aug. 16, will bring local business owners face-to-face with potential parttime employees and open the eyes of students to the array of shops and stores outside the local malls.

"I bet the seniors at our local High Schools probably have no idea  what is going on here or how much fun they could have at our events," Saxon writes in the current issue of the Main Street Woodstock INSIDER.

The after-school event will also give business owners a chance to help students develop skills that will translate into future success, Saxon said.

"You could become a mentor to these students through your business by spending approximately 15 hours outside the classroom with the student this year and what a great thing  to do," she said.

This is the second time that Saxon has held the event and she admits having worried that no one would come prior to last year's expo at Woodstock High.

"I didn't get there until 6:00 p.m. and there were no parking spaces anywhere close to the school/cafeteria'" she said.  "My heart skipped a beat, my eyes started watering and I knew right then what we were doing was what this community needed."