By ROD LEE

The zip code 01588 may not be America’s most famous. Not when it is put alongside “Beverly Hills 90210” which spawned a television show, 99501 which is Anchorage where “the first fast and fluffy Huskies took off in the world’s longest sled-dog race (the Iditarod),” 33162 which is Miami (home of the action-packed TV drama Miami Vice), or 10007 which is where you won’t get a wink of sleep.

But for the merchants who took part in the latest “Shop Small 01588” event from November 26 through December 3, and customers who patronized them, those five digits gain in importance every year.

During the course of that week, local residents had a chance to check out the diversified mix of businesses whose owners signed up for this fall’s production. There was no shortage of products and services to choose from: pet treats, handbags and accessories, jewelry and gifts, food, fitness, crafts, flowers, karate and martial arts instruction, design services, banking services, automobiles for sale, lumber and hardware, art glass, clothing, barbering and handmade wood pieces—for instance.

Many of the participating establishments have had a long involvement in Shop Small 01588. Others are new, including Carr Funeral Home on Hill St., where Heather Carr Reiter and Abbie Jackman-Tallent could be found next to a sleigh donated by Jeff Koopman the Saturday after Thanksgiving, collecting toys.

“It was fantastic,” Ms. Carr Reiter said several days later. “We received over eighty toys which is great for our first time. The sleigh bells are jingling” for what will be possible when the 2023 version of Shop Small 01588 rolls around, she said.

“We brought the toys to Bill Audette for the Toys for Kids & Teens program.”

Mr. Audette, a retired Northbridge Police Department patrolman, heads up the Toys for Kids & Teens initiative here. Toys for Kids & Teens is a nonprofit association sponsored by veterans and volunteers. Its members gather playthings during the months of November and December and distribute them to families.

“Last year Toys for Kids & Teens served about one hundred sixty to one hundred eighty families. This year they are up at least one hundred more,” Ms. Carr Reiter said.

Contact Rod Lee at [email protected] or 774-232-2999.