Would you like to win some money for holiday shopping?

Our newspaper is giving everyone the opportunity to win some extra spending money when it comes time for buying presents. And you can do your shopping close to home by looking through the contest pages of this week’s edition of The Times.

A total of 41 businesses are participating in this year’s holiday promotion, which we are calling “Holidays Cash In The Hills.”

If you are one of the participating businesses, I ask that you use your ad space wisely and feature some items or services that you offer as holiday gift ideas. Don’t forget your business can offer gift certificates as well as merchandise or services.

Also the holiday season is a time when you should be practicing your best customer service techniques. Be helpful but not overbearing when a new customer walks in. A smile and a friendly hello can go a long way toward making a sale. Don’t be negative if you get into a conversation with your customer. They don’t want to hear about your problems. They probably have enough of their own. Make their shopping experience a positive one. That’s the key to having them come back after the holiday season.

If you are a potential customer, I’m asking you to visit all of the businesses that are participating. Look around their shops and familiarize yourself with the merchandise they offer.

According to our rules, you may fill out one coupon per visit. There will be a new drawing each week. So to be eligible to win, you must go back to each location every week during the four weeks of the promotion to have the best chance at being a winner. Each of the participating businesses will have a poster displayed in the window or on the front door.

The first ads in the promotion appear in this week’s edition on Pages 15A through 19A. Friday, Nov. 28, at noon, we will collect the first group of coupons and we will conduct our first drawing that afternoon. There will be three winners each week that will each receive $25 in Fountain Hills Times Dollars.

Winners can spend their unique “currency” in any of the participating businesses. The business operator can redeem the currency at our office.

The Friday drawings will be held each week until Dec. 19. That day there will be two drawings. The 12 weekly drawing winners will have their coupons dropped back into the bin with all of the entries collected during the final week. We will draw three Grand Prize winners. The prizes are $500 for first, $300 for second and $200 for third.

So, have some fun, get your holiday shopping done, eat at a local restaurant, get to know our business community and we hope you are one of our winners.

The businesses are coming off what has been one of the worst summers for doing business in the town’s history. Most of them are hurting and doing their best to keep their doors open. Do what you can to keep our business community alive.

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Congratulations to the Fountain Hills High School football team which is continuing to shine in the state playoffs.

Think about traveling to Paradise Valley High School (56th Street and Bell Road) and cheer on the Falcons. This week’s semi-finals game will be played on Saturday against Blue Ridge starting at 4 p.m.

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Speaking for our entire staff, we offer our condolences to Times Editor Mike Scharnow, whose   father passed away last Saturday night. Mike was at his parents’ home in Port Washington, Wis. when word came from the care facility. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mike, his mom and their family.