“And like a good neighbor, Broadmoor is there.” — With sincere apologies to State Farm Insurance

My family’s cleaning lady, whom I playfully call “Wal-Mart Annie,” gets a weekly good-bye from me with the admonition, “Don’t shop at Wal-Mart” She just laughs and later that day gleefully does exactly what I bid her not to do.

She is not alone. Too many people shop at the corporate big box stores for one reason and one reason only — price.

She ignores my stern lectures about how Wal-Mart gives training to its low-paid employees about how to apply for and get public assistance. This means too many of Wal-Mart’s employees are subsidized by us taxpayers because one the richest companies in the world is too cheap to pay a living wage.

Moreover, Wal-Mart is infamous for helping to bring down local stores that can’t compete in price, but offer service and something we just don’t see enough of from businesses these days — being a good neighbor by helping the community in small ways, such as absorbing some of the costs for the local schools’ sports and artistic programs.

I wrote about the good neighbor that is Railside Auto Service in Wayland. Now I want to sing the praises of the newest used car business — Broadmoor Motor Group (BMG), also with offices in Hastings and Caledonia.

It was a year ago that I lost my beloved Prius to a wayward deer and after searching dealerships in Grand Rapids, I found BMG within walking distance. Tyler Wustman and the company gave me a reasonable deal on a basic car that’s treated me right in the last 12 months. And that’s not all.

My wife’s church, the United Church of Wayland, earlier this month needed a fairly large vehicle to transport members and foodstuffs to the annual Grand Rapids Festival for their booth. BMG wasted no time in offering to allow the church to use a seven-passenger Ford for a test drive for three days.

A local church that struggles to make ends meet can appreciate this kind of support for its annual biggest money-making enterprise.

Not long afterward, I chatted with Steve Shoemaker after the Leighton Township Board meeting. He told me about a friend who leased a van from BMG for an excursion to watch the Detroit Tigers, noting after the game the van suddenly wouldn’t start.

BMG sent another van, paid the revelers $100 for their trouble and made sure all of them had a safe ride home.

Anyone who knows me understands I absolutely hate to do any marketing or advertising, but I just can’t let any good deeds go unpunished.

In a nutshell… BMG is a welcome addition to this community. Live long and prosper.