A glance backwards

While the Middletown Eye has only been around for just more than six months, we've seen some significant developments in town. However, since I've been commenting on town events for somewhat longer, in my personal blog, Caterwauled, I'm able to get a 20/20 hindsight perspective on the entire year.

The year began with an old church rolling down Main Street, as what was formerly 9 Liberty Street, became a new address on Rapallo Avenue.

Shortly thereafter, the Army Corps of Engineers rolled into town announcing that they were going to build an Army Reserve Training Center in Maromas. That was not welcome news for that part of town, or to city leaders. As you know, if you're a regular reader, the Army has been back in town several times since, with a set of plans which included building on Boardman Lane (another choice which rankled neighbors and town leaders), and building on one of three sites, including Boardman Lane, Mile Lane and Cucia Park). In between, the Common Council met to provide it's input, and the mayor appointed a committee of residents to recommend sites (Cucia Park is the favored site), and the Army held a disastrous press conference.

The face of Main Street has changed over the course of the year, with O'Rourkes finally re-opening, with new dinner hours, no less. Not far away, It's Only Natural grocery left it's old location in Main Street Market (which now, unfortunately has no on-the-street tenants), for new digs in the Liberty Square development. On the other end of Main Street, a new building for Rite Aid went up, not without controversy. And while we lost some businesses on our Main drag, others opened, including Public, the Book Bower, Iguana Ranas Taqueria and Desa Vintage.

Wesleyan was at the center of news which brought attention to our town from the outside world. A "riot" of partying Wesleyan students on Fountain Avenue brought what some regarded as an unneccessary show of force by local police. On a happier note, Wesleyan's commencement speaker was none other than our current president-elect, Barack Obama.

Speaking of the election, it was an important topic all year long. The Obama effect created a huge surge of new voters who gave Democrats the advantage of very long coattails. Locally, the Middletown Eye offered the most complete, and the most rapid coverage of Voting Day, with Eye correspondents at many of the local polling places.

In early summer, it became clear that other news media was failing the citizenry, largely as a result of financial problems with their corporate parents. The Hartford Courant reduced its coverage, and the Middletown Press saw its parent company beginning to close dailies.


So, on June 16, The Middletown Eye debuted with its first post. While we haven't quite met our projected six-month goals, we have become a respected part of news in this community. In the upcoming months you'll see some changes and improvements as we work to provide more complete coverage, expand our readership, and be more of a service to our community.

One thing's for certain. When reviewing stories of a year gone by, Middletown is a great place to live. For a mid-sized town, there are an amazing assortment of cultural activities, from cutting edge rock, to Shakespeare in the Grove from Feet to the Fire to the Annual Oddfellows Youth Circus. And with the proximity of rivers and forests, one can kayak into backwaters, or scale a diminutive peak.

We hope you've enjoyed reading our reports, and encourage you to encourge your friends and neighbors to join you as Middletown Eye readers. And if you're doubly inspired, we invite you to write about anything you consider news in Middletown.