As we creep up on the ninth (!) anniversary of this little town square on the Web, I’d like to repeat my oft-repeated invitation to the whole neighborhood to participate. I’ve struggled over the years to come up with quite the metaphor for what we’re trying to build here (backyard fence over which news and opinion is passed, coffeehouse without the coffee), but the goal is consistent: provide a forum for conversation within the neighborhood to build the bonds of community.
And there are lots of ways to 
do that: you can, of course, join in the comment threads or jump over to the Forums, but you’re also invited to author an article, once or on an ongoing basis. If something catches your eye, you feel there’s a topic that’s been overlooked in our attentions, why don’t you write it up? You can choose one of the hot and fiery issues of the day, such as neighborhood zoning laws and off-leash dogs, or something more sedate, like interesting lawn art or neighborhood personalities, as long as it’s about this little community we all share.
We have over a dozen people who contribute to Wallyhood, some on a regular basis, some once or twice only, and you can get involved in whatever way makes you comfortable. We even welcome you to join our smaller cadre of rotating weekly editors (which is less of a responsibility than it sounds, I promise). Pay consists of the gratitude from your community, a sense of purpose, and a beautiful ceramic mug (now on order). Profits after expenses from advertising are donated to FamilyWorks, Wallingford’s own food bank and family resource center.
Please drop us a line at [email protected] or to me personally at [email protected] if you’d like to learn more.
Katcat has a lot to say. Marie of Roumania can certainly offer a well punctuated picece with perfect spelling tho I believe she moved to outer Ballard. Implied observer has helpful information. Might you offer this to business owners in the area? Might you offer this places like Solid Ground and other groups which support people in our community in need?
I do have too much to say. Fortunately, there is an enormous difference between a fake name with opinions and a hardworking person who does the research necessary to write an article.
I understand. I hope you are not bothered that I suggested you.
It’s been offered to local business owners and the Wallingford Chamber of Commerce (with the caveat that they can’t just write self-promotional articles), and I hereby re-offer it.
well, it is school visitation time.. possible to reach out to the neighborhood schools? Get an article with major offerings? Get info from SSd re boundaries etc.. will they change this year? Find out about school bus potential strike/ Iowagirl also makes thoughtful comments
I think this type of topics are difficult for this blog. The percentage of Wallingford residents that care about the school boundary issue of a specific year is very limited, so majority of people couldn’t contribute to the topic much. And then there are already a few websites and forums out there devoted to Seattle Public School issues and people really would be better served to go there for info. Quite often what’s helpful on this blog is just pointing people to those places.
It’s kind of the same situation for many topics: not specific to Wallingford. So an author might not find this the best place to write on those topics.
I think that’s why we ends up with real estate topics being the hottest, because it’s one of the few topics that’s local with wide audiences.
I guess some sort of dining/shopping guides for the neighborhood can still be written and would be helpful. Maybe something that’s updated yearly. These might be the kind of thing that’d show up in searches for newcomers.
oh, well my course has run.
The most scares resource is not readers or topics, its writers. If a person cares enough to write a well researched article about a neighborhood topic then people will read it.
There are school issues which are particular to Wallingford. For years there has been much debate within a small subset of the community about curriculum and enrollment rules for John Stanford and McDonnald elementary schools. There may be many people out of the loop such as parents of future students, alumni and civic minded residents. The same goes for issues related to the reopening of Lincoln High School.
oohh, yes. I gave ideas. I offered to write articles. My course has completed with thanks to a recent comment Years ago there was a discussion about conduct. etc etc. Nextdoor & the community FB pages now also provide venues for info sharing.
Look, I’m not here to pick a fight with you but nearly every post you make includes a dig at Marie who, so far as I can tell, has not risen to the bait and hit back at your snarky comments (and yes, your comment about Marie was just that…but she can fight her own battles). If you want to play the victim, fine, but your conduct is hardly blameless. Good luck.
Jeez, you’ve got some nerve to snark about somebody posting a lot! Why don’t you go to Kitaro’s and scream at the air? Or scre ama tthea ir, I mean.
I could be wrong, but I don’t think she was snarking. I think she was genuinely saying “These people post a lot of comments, maybe they could be writers of articles”.
Seriously? She can’t post without mentioning Marie or Kitaro’s. But it’s no big deal. I just think if anyone ought to contribute “because they post a lot” it should be Cathy.
To what email does one send a good idea for some articles which are not highly technical ( as in parking, legal, HALA)?