A personal account of Bedford Day by Meredith McCulloch
Hanging out at a booth on Bedford Day is fun. It is a good time to greet old friends and make new ones. I’ve been working at one booth or another for 40 years, but the last three years I’ve spent my time at The Bedford Citizen booth. I would step from under the tent, catch someone’s eye, and thrusting our handout, say “Hello” and “Do you read The Bedford Citizen?” A few were cautious, so I learned to put “free, volunteer-run” at the beginning of my spiel. “We are a free, volunteer- run, online newspaper focused on Bedford,” was my pitch.
Many responses warmed my heart, “I moved to town two years ago,” said Priya Gopalan, and I made it [The Bedford Citizen] my home page.” She first arrived in Bedford around the time The Citizen was born. Pleased, I said “may I quote you?” and she agreed.
Other comments were encouraging, “Do you read The Bedford Citizen?” I asked Ruth Munden, who said, “I would be devastated, if it stopped. I read the email every day.” Debra Parkhurst said, “I love it, keep it up.”
Rev. John Castricum, the minister at First Church of Christ, was new to town when we met for the first time last Bedford Day. This year he stopped by to say, “My parishioners rely on The Citizen.”
Passersby that I accosted were friendly. Folks I had never met before said, “ I read it every week. Thank you. ” Some old-timers that I’ve known for decades hadn’t yet heard of our local online newspaper.
The day was glorious. The temperature soon rose above the earlier 43 degrees, the sun came out. We were happy to be there to promote our online newspaper and to help celebrate our community. Thanks to all who visited us, citizen to Citizen.
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