Community has reason to be proud

Every community likes to believe it is special, unique in some way.

That’s why they create promotional materials to woo businesses, industries, new residents and new investment, always bragging about their special spirit, their work ethic, their heritage and the character of their people.

But sometimes, it’s not brag. It’s fact.

As exhibit A, we’d like to submit the pre-Thanksgiving edition of The Commercial Review that was dropped on doorsteps and stuffed into motor route tubes last week.

Flip through its pages. Re-read its feature stories. And you’ll come away prouder of your community. That’s not brag. It’s fact.

The big edition is a tradition for The CR, and planning for its production begins back in October.

That’s when newsroom staff gets together, kicking around story ideas. But these aren’t just any story ideas. There are plenty of those week in and week out.

Instead, the staff tries to focus on things that might have gotten overlooked in the on-rush of events or the crunch of time, stories that ultimately will tell us as a community more about one another as individuals and as a community.

Some years, we hit a home run. Some years, we may have to settle for a couple of doubles and a few singles.

This year, we had trouble squeezing it all in.

Something like 30 local stories, columns and editorials made their way into that 40-page edition. Another 10 or so got bumped to later editions. You’ve been reading them this past week and may be reading some next week.

But the goal is always the same: Share what is special about this community — from Dunkirk and Redkey on the west to Fort Recovery on the east, from Geneva on the north to Ridgeville on the south — to readers in that community. In other words, tell us about one another.

Is this a strong, unique and determined community? You bet it is.

If you doubt that, go back and pick up the pre-Thanksgiving edition. That should prove convincing. — J.R.