Sometimes I forget what I did pre-pandemic. I am not talking about socializing, eating out, shopping etc. That is all pretty much back to normal. In particular, I’m flashing back on some of the features that were standard in West Life when I started here in 2017 and recognized as both logical and very popular.
In particular, I’m talking about a column we used to run weekly called “About Town.” It was put together by one of the most awesome people I’ve ever met. Her name is Kathleen Webb. For more years than I know, she was the backbone of West Life. She answered phones, she took care of subscriptions issues, she took new subscriptions, she dealt with cranky reporters and probably even crankier editors (I am SO SORRY Kathleen).
She handled office politics with grace, appropriate kindness and appropriate firmness. She was probably so sick of me walking over to her desk to just chat. I needed her on so many levels.
Three of her many duties included the standard weekly features of the library listings, something called About Town that broke down activities in all our cities, and the real estate transfers.
In fall 2019, she retired, although I was so fortunate that she agreed to stay on for a couple of days a week doing those three features. That fortune lasted a year. She fully retired in fall of 2020 and left for a much-deserved life free of office drama.
When COVID hit, obviously our events calendars dried up completely (as did many other things like our advertising base, etc.).
As life slowly returned to normal in 2021 and 2022, I reinstated the library event listings. Although sparse at first, they are now fully robust.
I started writing up what I was calling “briefs,” which were snippets of events and activities throughout our readership. That’s what I’ve been doing for about a year. It was my version of a modified About Town.
This week, I am officially bringing back to the full-fledged About Town. Please check it out. I spent hours scouring city and community websites, blogs, Facebook pages … basically anything I could find that might be listing a fun or important activity.
With the holiday season in full swing, I am especially aware of how important it is to keep our readers aware of events and not just news stories. It is our job.
Like before, About Town is divided by community. Readers can skip right to their city, or they can look at surrounding communities if they want. Easy peasy, as my daughter used to say.
While I am studiously hoping I caught everything, I know I will never be as complete as Kathleen used to be. She had an enviable network and an instinct. So I ask that if you are aware of something fun or important coming up, please let me know! My email is at the bottom of this column.
Thank you and enjoy going About (your) Town.
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