Editor Column
Nicole Aimone, Editor-in-Chief
We’re right in the middle of the season where I like to re-watch one of my all-time favorite shows, “Gilmore Girls”, which is exactly what I was doing last week when I realized just how active the Connecticut small town setting and its characters are in their community.
If you’ve seen the show or even if you’re unfamiliar with it, one of the biggest draws is the small town type atmosphere it gives, showcasing the everybody-knows-everybody connections between characters, cameos from the quirky residents that live there and most off, the plethora of community events that seem to be never ending.
If you’ve watched the show, you know that there is always something going on in the little town of Stars Hollow, whether it’s the town meeting, where residents can air grievances or the town makes major town decisions together (I want to be clear, the Stars Hollow town meetings hardly follow legal, governmental meeting procedures, but nevertheless, they’re typically well attended and there’s a large amount of resident participation), the event could be a revolutionary war reenactment, a festival to celebrate and tell the story of the town, a town bonfire or a winter carnival there is always something happening in that town.
For the main characters of the show, Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, it’s unthinkable to miss even a single one of these events, rain or snow, and it’s clear through the show that the rest of the town feels the same way, and I truly think that’s amazing.
According to some online sources, the official total population of Stars Hollow is about 9,000 people, which is the same size as the River Valley School District and this town manages to pull off some crazy stuff that we should want to see make its way to our area.
Our area has some really cool community events, but I think there is always room to grow and always room for new events that can work to bring the area together and provide a fun time for everyone in the community, and maybe even brings in some from the surrounding areas to join in on the fun.
I fully understand that this show and town are fictional and probably uses monopoly money to make all of this happen, but the idea is there, and so is the idea that we need to invest in our community if we’re going to be able to create new community events and organizations or even continue with the ones that we do well currently. Investing doesn’t always mean money, although I’m sure that would go a long way, there are plenty of other ways to invest in the community. Many of the events cost little more than time and passion. The biggest investment is providing support, come out to those new events that come to your community, just show up. Support the new business, try the new restaurant, share photos of your fun times on social media and tag the place or event. It’s not hard, it will take only a little bit of time away from you, and you’ll probably have a good time.
Treat those new events, new businesses, new restaurants, whatever it is, like it’s an unthinkable thing for you or anyone in our community to miss. That’s how we can find our place next to Stars Hollow, by just joining, being happy and excited to see the community grow.
You can be excited for the community to have more options and more amenities without having to give too much, all it takes is us showing up and sharing our ideas.
Let’s show up for our community like the Gilmore Girls and Stars Hollow shows up for their community. If a small New England town the size of the entire River Valley area can do it, we can certainly band together to do it.