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Date: 11/20/2020
A few weeks ago the news team got together and we hosted a socially–distanced apple pie tasting. I took the lead on that article, putting it together from everyone's opinions on which pies were the best.
As I began to piece together all of our opinions on which bakery had the most savory filling spices, the sweetest crust, the tartest apples – I started off with the introduction to the article.
I spent about 10 minutes writing an introductory diatribe about how tough this year has been for so many – a worldwide pandemic, a historical – and heated – presidential race, protests and rallies supporting a host of different causes including the Black Lives Matter movement, and more. It has been a year of division and separation – division perhaps due to divisive politics and human rights issues, separation due to social distancing and shut downs. I wrote that as we moved into the holiday season and on to 2021, I knew many were hoping for a better year ahead.
I wrote this entire introduction for the article, which eventually I was planning to connect to the actual subject – pie – and then I did something I almost never do. I scrapped it. I deleted everything I had written and began again.
I started to write once more – the introduction turned out like this: “As we move into the holiday season, we at Reminder Publishing are acutely aware that some of our readers may be looking for a small escape in our articles. A distraction – if you will – from all that’s going on in our world these days, and this past year.” I then moved right into the discussion of freshly baked apple pies.
I changed my tone. I tried to look at the bright side. This was an article about pie, after all – not about elections, protests or the pandemic.
As Reminder Publishing Assistant Managing Editor of our West editions, Chris Maza, referenced in a column he wrote this week – “It’s Thanksgiving, and with that comes the expectation of uplifting editorials reminding us that we should be thankful and grateful for what we have.” But he was correct in his next statement – it seems a bit like “tone-deaf pandering” to suggest we should all be thankful when there are so many people struggling and suffering right now.
In the same token, though, as I alluded to in my newly-minted introduction to the apple pie piece – not everything we write has to be about all of the bad going on in the world today. While we look to bring our readers the local news that matters every week, and with that does come the discussion of the “heavier” topics, that’s not to say that some of the news we bring hasn’t been truly uplifting.
There actually is a lot of good happening right now – we just might have to look a little harder to find it.
For example, in our Agawam Reminder last week one of our new staff writers, Ryan Feyre, wrote an article about a 13-year-old West Springfield middle school student, Devin Jones, who was in search of a heart for a heart transplant after being rushed to Boston Children’s Hospital on Oct. 27. The article originally was highlighting his need for a heart, and where people could donate to help the family with medical expenses should they choose to do so. Happily, though, when the Reminder Publishing editors woke up Monday morning, we had received a note that the student’s wish came true: a heart was found, and Jones underwent transplant surgery the night before. The entire scope of the article changed – we were all so thrilled to hear this news.
In Chicopee, resident Christine Ramponi was struck with inspiration. She decided to create the 413 Giving Tree project, a project that enlists people in the community to give to families in need a Christmas tree, as well as gifts to go under it. After three days of creating this project, she already received offers of help from over 30 people from all over the region.
A West Springfield student and former Holyoke resident Kadyn McDonough created “Hugs for Holyoke,” as a way to give back to children in need. At the start of the school year she worked to gather materials and collect donations from community members to create bags of school supplies for Holyoke students, and now as the holiday season approaches, she wanted to do more for families in need. She posted to her Facebook page, and at one point she had raised $845 to help provide meals for families in need.
These are a mere few examples of all of the wonderful acts of kindness and happy news happening in the communities we live in.
The last few times I’ve logged onto local town Facebook forums for story ideas, I’ve been met with several posts of townspeople reaching out to other residents to do something nice for the community. Food donations, helping thy neighbor – it has been so uplifting to see.
It’s the season of giving, and it’s been a heartwarming change to see more of these types of posts. Don’t get me wrong – there are still copious amounts of discussion on each day’s states of affairs happening within these forums, as there should be. I am not suggesting we ignore the obvious and try to shut ourselves into a happy bubble.
With that said, though I am not always the optimist, I feel the need to suggest that while seeking out daily doses of updates on the pandemic, the election and more, that readers look for at least one bit of “happy news.” Readers can often find this happy news within the pages of this newspaper.
As the festive holiday songs I have playing in my home suggest, it is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. Though this year has been significantly less wonderful than many years of recent memory, it would be foolish to suggest that there are not uplifting pieces of news happening every single day within our communities.
Looking for the good reminds me that as tough as this year has been for so many, including myself, there is positivity. There is a family whose son has been given another chance at life with a heart transplant. There are families in need who are receiving donations of school supplies, food, Christmas trees and gifts – all organized by their neighbors and friends. These are wonderful positives to be celebrated, and certainly is something to be thankful for.