If you're like me and you appreciate the warmth and scents that candles can bring to your home, then you'll appreciate that there is one place you can go where candles of any kind are proudly made in the USA.

Candle-lite (www.candle-lite.com) has been manufacturing quality candles in the USA since 1840, and they have long been recognized as the leader in the decorative candle manufacturing industry. All Candle-lite candles are made in their 900,000 square-foot facility in Leesburg, Ohio.

The great thing about Candle-lite, other than the fact that not one of their candles is imported, is that you can either make your choice online or check out their candles in one of nearly 40 different retail chains nationwide.

You'll find Candle-lite products in stores where you might expect to find candles like Publix, Safeway, CVS, and Walgreens, and even in stores you might not expect like Ace Hardware. But of course these stores aren't likely to carry every Candle-lite candle available, so make sure you check out www.candle-lite.com for the entire collection.

On their website, you can select "products" and browse by everyday, seasonal, or collections categories, or you can simply select the "buy online" menu (which will take you to the www.CandleDistribution.com website) and search on more specific choices like unscented candles, soy candles, wooden wick candles, and decorative accessories. The majority of the Candle-lite's accessories are made in USA, but some of the components may be sourced from locations if not available domestically.

We like to use a variety of types of candles in our home, and it's always a chore to try to remember which stores nearby carried which candles and also which ones had the kind we wanted made in USA. It's always disappointing to get to the store and find that either they are out of what you want, or the candles they do have on the shelf bear the words "Made in China" on the tag or label. With www.candle-lite.com, those potential problems are now a thing of the past around our home.

You can also choose many types of candles in various quantities and scents depending on your needs. For example, you can order tea light candles in a ten-pack, 25 count bag or 50 count bag in several scents including apple cinnamon crisp, juicy black cherries, fresh melon slice, creamy vanilla swirl, pumpkin nutmeg pie, or no fragrance at all.

Candle-lite has an impressive selection of seasonal candles as well that won't leave you out of step with various holidays and seasons, whether it's Christmas, Autumn, or even Halloween.

If you're looking for something different to really spice up your fundraising activities, Candle-lite offers a nice selection of popular candles and gift sets to choose from.

As patriotic consumers, we should do what we can to keep the American candle industry alive and thriving as there is never a shortage of predatory foreign producers that want to steal our market share. The challenge to our American candle industry recently became evident as Chinese producers have once again been accused of unfairly dumping imports in the U.S. market and undercutting domestic producers.

At the urging of certain U.S. lawmakers with candle producers in their districts, the U.S. Department of Commerce has been urged to maintain import tariffs on Chinese companies' cheap candles to prevent their unfair trade practices from putting another American industry at risk. We've seen China's economic invasion threaten various American industries already, and we certainly don't need another one threatened and the American jobs that go along with it.

But of course the best way to keep our American candle makers prospering in the face of potential crippling Chinese competition is to use the power of our pocketbooks and vote with our dollars to support American industries. It's especially important in industries like the candle industry where cheap producers like China constantly seek loopholes to get around laws intended to protect domestic companies against such practices.

For me, since I buy candles anyway, I'm going to make sure every purchase I would already normally make is channeled toward supporting American producers like Candle-lite (www.candle-lite.com) that is proud to employ American workers. That's the best way to keep America's candle industry burning bright into the future.

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