Back-to-school time is chance to support local merchants Metuchen's support of its schools is legend among the state's lawmakers. As one of several parents who trekked to Trenton this spring to argue on behalf of our local schools - an anchor of our closeknit community - I was struck by the outpouring of e-mails and calls to legislators when the autonomy of our schools was threatened. As this school year begins, I urge Metuchen parents to show that same loyalty to another anchor of our borough: our downtown merchants. Those notebooks, binders, backpacks, lunchboxes, pencils, sharpeners, tissues, rulers, compasses, and other supplies vital to our kids' well-being at school are all available downtown. If they're not, just ask. Our merchants will get them for you. Shopping in downtown Metuchen isn't just a transaction- it's a rite of passage for our children. Consider the first time your kindergartner picked out her own teacher gift, maybe a candle in the shape of an apple, at Boyt's. Or the first time your preschooler ran through Variety Village's bargain basement and discovered he had enough money for a toy car. The first time you said 'no' to a toy gun there - and the first time you said 'yes.' The first time your fifth-grader went downtown on her own with friends - and the shopkeeper you called assured you they were fine. The frantic day before Christmas break when the calm, nonplussed staff at Boyt's said, "No problem, leave your presents here, we'll have them wrapped when you get back from your errands." The year that Nick at Variety Village found - on very short notice - scads of boxes of white chalk, 120 bandannas, and Hanukkah gelt in April so 120 first- and second-graders could pretend to whitewash a fence, run away from home, and find gold in a cave to bring "Tom Sawyer" to life for them. The many treks to the stores to post fliers and ask for money on behalf of the schools - and the many times they said "yes." Each time you go downtown, you also support the pizza parlors, the ice cream shop, the coffee houses, the florists, the hardware store, the restaurants where your kids, their friends, you, and your friends have grown up together. Of course, online shopping, rebates to parent-teacher organizations, and easy parking at vast box stores have made it easier as each year passes to overlook our downtown merchants, particularly as more and more huge international chains border Metuchen. Nearly 17 years ago, when I wrote a stock market column for The Wall Street Journal - long before I dreamed of switching to a mommy track to raise kids in a small town - I followed the expansion of the big warehousestyle stores like Home Depot and Price Club (now Costco) and retailers like Dayton Hudson (now Target) and Office Depot. Not surprisingly, they have thrived. Now their annual sales are in the billions and they sell to customers at stores around the world and on the Web. Yes, they should be lauded for their support of education through rebate programs that channel thousands of dollars to local PTOs. We should continue to back those programs. But the big chains' survival is not in question. Our local merchants - and the downtown that Metuchen cherishes - cannot thrive without our support. Anne Newman Metuchen