Editing this paper is a daunting proposition- especially when the previous editor, Denise Nash, made the Plainview-Old Bethpage Herald her home-away-from-home for nothing less than a decade. As someone who’s lived in the general area for over 20 years, I certainly feel at home, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling a little intimidated- after all, there’s a lot going on here. I want to make sure I don’t miss something important…oh, and did I mention that Denise did this for ten years?
However, I have to admit that I have some serious community credentials; I may have logged more hours in the Plainview Shopping Center than any other individual in the entire newspaper industry. As a small child, my mother would take me to the center to buy candy, stickers, and comic books. Throughout my adolescence, I continued to spend my allowance and babysitting money in the area at a breathtaking rate; my parents thought I was just greedy, but with 20/20 hindsight, I think we can all agree that I was investing in the local economy.
Even today, while I no longer buy sparkly stickers (at least, not to any extent that I’m willing to commit to in writing), when I feel like shopping or just taking a stroll on a nice day, my destination remains the same. Obviously, I’ve spent plenty of time in other areas of Plainview and Old Bethpage, but most of those other areas do not have such strong associations with stickers and delicious coffee. I’m sure I’ll have the opportunity in the coming weeks to visit new places, and make all-new associations; ones I could not have imagined during my self-centered, but economically productive, youth.
In fact, in the interests of journalism, I think I should spend a lot more time in the area in general- and clearly, that includes whiling away even more blissful hours at Center Coffee Shop. Well, maybe I am in my element after all.
-Karen Gellender
