This time of year, the mantra “Shop Local” is shouted from the rooftops. With the busy Christmas season upon us, our local businesses are hopefully overwhelmed with residents shopping and dining in our community. My family tries to keep our small town thriving by buying gifts in town rather than shopping online.

We at the Saratoga Sun have much for which we are thankful.

For 137 years, the Saratoga Sun has had the honor and the privilege to serve the fine people of the Platte Valley. The weight of that responsibility is not lost on us, especially as we go through our archive when compiling ‘Reflections from Our Files’ each week. Even 100 years ago, there are names which are recognizable.

Tempers flared last week, as Democrats sought to cast blame for the Republican landslide - I was particularly galled when a friend laid the blame on, “newspapers who are too chicken to …”

Hold it right there. Losing my cool was a regular occurrence 30 years ago but it takes a lot to get my Irish at age 64.

Journalists, particularly the people in the newspaper business, are the most courageous people I know.

It seems that every small town and every community has a coffee klatch, a group of people—typically older—who gather at a chosen place to talk over their morning coffee.

Earlier this month, the Campbell County Chamber of Commerce recognized the Gillette News Record at its annual awards banquet with the Legacy Award.

The Gillette News Record is a legacy to our community, from the many that pioneered its beginning to those who built it to what it is today.

Editor, 

The world is an ever-more complicated place. It can be difficult to know what the facts really are. Back in the day when we all watched Walter Cronkite give us the news on TV we all got the same facts. And they really were true.