By Meagan Nichols
The paper I worked for this summer was a weekly publication printed every Friday.
At the end of each work week, my mother and I would drive the few miles down the road to Daniel’s Sebago Diner for the paper, coffee and pumpkin nut pancakes.
By the end of the summer we became regulars at Daniels. It got to the point where the waitresses knew what we were going to order as soon as we sat down.
There was just something rewarding about walking up to the newsstand nestled on the porch of the diner and seeing your name in print and knowing the countless hours, late nights and early mornings spent working on those articles had come to fruition. Somehow those pancakes seemed to taste a little sweeter, especially when an article made it above the fold!
This routine always reminded me of the charm of small towns and the important role local papers play in the community. Big city papers might be suffering, but I was shocked by the amount of free publications dispersed throughout Southern Maine.
Maybe their popularity stemmed from the fact that Maine has the oldest median age in the country and online news is not something many of them have transitioned to. Or maybe picking up a free paper and seeing the faces of friends and neighbors scattered throughout the pages makes the trip down to the grocer to grab a copy a worthwhile errand.
Whatever the reason, there is something to be said for small town publications!
Follow Meagan on Twitter @MeaganNichols1
The paper I worked for this summer was a weekly publication printed every Friday.
At the end of each work week, my mother and I would drive the few miles down the road to Daniel’s Sebago Diner for the paper, coffee and pumpkin nut pancakes.
By the end of the summer we became regulars at Daniels. It got to the point where the waitresses knew what we were going to order as soon as we sat down.
There was just something rewarding about walking up to the newsstand nestled on the porch of the diner and seeing your name in print and knowing the countless hours, late nights and early mornings spent working on those articles had come to fruition. Somehow those pancakes seemed to taste a little sweeter, especially when an article made it above the fold!
This routine always reminded me of the charm of small towns and the important role local papers play in the community. Big city papers might be suffering, but I was shocked by the amount of free publications dispersed throughout Southern Maine.
Maybe their popularity stemmed from the fact that Maine has the oldest median age in the country and online news is not something many of them have transitioned to. Or maybe picking up a free paper and seeing the faces of friends and neighbors scattered throughout the pages makes the trip down to the grocer to grab a copy a worthwhile errand.
Whatever the reason, there is something to be said for small town publications!
Follow Meagan on Twitter @MeaganNichols1