Note to Readers
Above: Editor, right, along with family and unpaid staff
Everyday StoriesDear Neighbor,
Consider this quip from GK Chesterton: “Journalism largely consists in saying ‘Lord Jones is dead’ to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.” I’d say that old insight is still mostly on the mark. I bet you don’t know most of the people you hear about in the news - and maybe wouldn’t want to. OK, get ready to field another Chesterton line drive. It’s about taking the familiar for granted. “The things we see every day are the things we never see at all.” Right again, I’d say. But we should see them – and see the good in them – because the every-day is where we live most of our lives. So, that’s mostly what you’ll enjoy in The Echo: stories about the quotidian, the commonplace, the ubiquitous, the close-by. In them you’ll find hard work, neighborliness, charity, high trust, safety, competence, faith, simple beauty – and people who build all of these things, little by little “every day” in the place you live. For instance, the first couple of posts are about little league baseball and a local Pokémon club. Newsworthy? Well, no. Important? Of course! Though compelling in themselves, beneath these stories are simple themes that strike meaningful chords: a father and son working together, a group persisting to keep a much-wanted local activity open despite new challenges. Discovering what’s worthwhile depends on the angle you take. If you only see things or the sensational or add up dollars, you might miss a lot. Or, to put it in Chestertonian terms, “The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.” You’ll note this publication is a blog. It will be that way until we get sorted out and can post new content consistently. A more standard website is already in the works. I’ll sign off for now with a couple of requests. First, please sign up for occasional e-mail updates (click here). You won’t get them more than once a week and probably a lot less. I’ll let you know about new stories and you’ll get to see the names of the local merchants, service providers, craftsmen and manufacturers occupying advertising space on this site. Please use their offerings where you can and let them know you saw their ads here. That’s it for now. I hope you visit often and stick around. My job will be to make sure you want to. Time to get to work. Regards, Matthew Meritt Editor 
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