Letter to the editor: there is value in a small town newspaper

April 29, 2022

To the editor:

I would like to start this letter by thanking Sara Swanson and Marsha Chartrand for keeping this publication up and running for almost 10 years. I know that it is difficult to run an operation like this with such a small number of contributors, so your continued dedication is greatly appreciated. 

Recently, I have been looking over the old Manchester Enterprise papers, and I’ve been fascinated to see what was considered news in the 1940s and ’50s. Each publication had at least one full page of various announcements for residents, like marriages, deaths, who was visiting who and from where, and more. Reading these in 2022 makes me appreciate what you folks do at the Mirror even more. I don’t know how many people the Enterprise used to employ, but it certainly was more than two. 

Another aspect of the Mirror that I really enjoy is the fact that anyone can contribute articles if they are so inclined. I am part of the MHS Alumni Association, and we recently put in an article about our June Banquet. The information in that article would have been significantly more difficult to distribute without the Mirror’s involvement or existence. I also enjoy seeing the spotlighted vendors from Acorn, as it helps me learn more about what is sold there. I have also contributed random articles, myself, over the years about varying topics (usually when I was a teen) not affiliated with an organization. Being able to be a young person and not only write an article but have it published in the newspaper was a really fun and empowering experience that I probably would not have had in a larger community. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for keeping this paper up and running for the past nine years. 

I have lived here for most of my life, and I really enjoy (for the most part) the kindness and closeness of this small community. However, I am deeply upset at how some members have been discussing this paper. It is very easy to hide behind a fake name and computer screen and complain about how someone or some entity is not doing a good enough job. It is, however, much more difficult to log off of Facebook and actually do something about it. Obviously, people are free to complain about anything in whatever form they would like to, but I feel that it really shows one’s character to bash a small town newspaper publicly on the Internet with nothing more than a trolling post. I see posts like that on Facebook as from nothing more than a depressingly lonely person with not a lot to do, trying to stir a pot and get interaction (and validation) online. To those people, I implore you to look around and maybe start to volunteer that time spent complaining on Facebook to help make our community a better, brighter, and more welcoming place. 

Amelia Herron

Village of Manchester

Views expressed in any Letter to the Editor are always exclusively those of the author. Do you have something you want Manchester to know? Send your Letter to the Editor to themanchestermirror@gmail.com.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.