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Coming home

Posted on March 20, 2008 by Staff

By Robert Dickson  

When Mary Beth, Kirk and I walked into last year’s Community Dinner, I felt a bit like a deer in the headlights. There were so many people I wanted to meet and talk with but in that big crowd I really didn’t know where to start.

Somewhat audaciously, I had added the line “The Carrboro Citizen” to my nametag. We were a couple of weeks away from getting the first issue on the street, so in addition to a few curious looks one lady even made the comment that I wasn’t the only one. No kidding.

Since that dinner, I haven’t had to explain nearly so often that I’m not the Carrboro citizen. Putting 5,000 copies a week on the street for 52 weeks seems to have helped.

From Hillsborough to Pittsboro to White Cross to the big city of Chapel Hill, folks have welcomed our interest in their lives. There are so many great stories to tell from our town and our region and they just keep on coming. Carrboro is home, though, and it’s to here we’ll always return.

Many friends have come into my life from every possible angle. Coworkers, advertisers, subscribers, writers and readers have all enriched my life in the ways I had hoped when we conceived of The Citizen.

That’s been my experience for the last year. I’ve met and talked with lots of you now and you’ve all made me feel like I belong here, and that just maybe I’m helping provide something worthwhile for our town.

So when I returned for this year’s dinner, it felt like I had come full circle. I went with my wife and daughter, and the first person to greet us was a smiling Jackie Helvey. Thanks for the ads, she said. No, Jackie, thank you for doing so much for this community and for making my family and me feel welcome.

Jackie was just the start. I greeted a good number of folks whom I’ve gotten to know, as well as finally putting faces with names of others with whom I’ve had the pleasure of communicating. And when I got my hug from Nerys Levy, well, that just about did it.

In some ways, the past 52 weeks seem like an eternity compressed into a millisecond. And when I pause to have that conversation at the gym, market or bar that I wouldn’t have had a year ago, it strikes me what a gift I’ve been given. By publishing this weekly newspaper, I’ve transformed my relationship with my town from passive to active, from observer to participant. And in the process, I’ve received the richness, warmth and friendship of our community.

So thanks, Carrboro. I’m home now.

1 thought on “Coming home”

  1. Mary Beth Bardin says:
    March 30, 2008 at 9:44 pm

    Happy anniversary, Citizens. I wish I could’ve been there to help celebrate. I still read the paper online. It’s nice to have a little slice of home in this foreign land. Here’s wishing y’all a happy year two (and many more).

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