Sunday Gratitude: Two Years of the Weston Owl

The Weston Owl is two. I believe that makes it the cotton anniversary but I cannot imagine how I can work that into a story. I am mostly trying to work in a celebratory cake somehow. Celebratory tacos? Probably celebratory shoveling and laundry. Happy Sunday.

For last year’s anniversary (the “paper anniversary”), I reviewed the Owl’s most popular posts of the year (2021). Doing that again for 2022 nets the top five most-read stories in descending order:

1. A “food story” was the number one most-read story of the year–all about the two new eating establishments in town: Heirloom and Weston Provisions. No, the JST is not in here. Let’s hope for 2023.
2. The grand opening of Charles River Recovery took second place. I am not sure what that means really.
3. The obituary for Bob Mauro was third. What a loss he was for Weston.
4. Food again. The story on JINDU’s opening took fourth place.
5. Local boy becomes fire chief rounds out the top five, as no one can resist fire trucks. No one.

In terms of all-time (2021-22) most-read, the story on Iron Horse Dressage remains the top dog horse. And of all coincidences, I just got back from a Wes-TEN filming there this morning.

One thing is clear: Weston really needs an objective local media source that is not social media only (we have a couple of good Facebook pages but not everyone is on FB), not opinionated (um, me), and is not regionalized (the current iteration of Weston Town Crier/Patch). The Owl has no intention of losing the opinions and humor of this page–that is why it exists, and without it, I am not so interested in the 20 hours of work each week. Plus, and you all may or may not want to hear this, the Owl may not always live here. At 9 years of residency, this is the longest I have ever lived in one place. We need a permanent news source, Weston.

So who is going to start this local media site? And who is going to pay to make it happen? You have to know that while folks are all in favor of local news reporting, very few pay for it. It’s not a complaint: it is a fact. Perhaps it is time for a little local news media charrette.

Now to my gratitude. I am grateful that most days are pretty fun. I am grateful to be able to learn about this town and its residents through research, writing and humor. I am grateful for the readers who interact with me in person at the grocery store, the parking lot, and the sporting events, and tell me what they enjoyed or found irritating about one post or another. I am grateful for Mr. Owl, the Grands (owls), and brother Owl who often comment to me about posts, catching the inevitable typo or mistake, and finding humor in the posts. And I am grateful to the Owlets who, as it turns out, do care a lot, and who allow me time and space to write and learn and have fun, even though it is to them, “not a real job.”

Happy anniversary to the Weston Owl!