“Celebrate endings – for they precede new beginnings”
Jonathan Lockwood Huie, Author
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It has been my privilege and delight to bring to you the Franklin County Free Press “Looking Back” column over the past few years. Regretfully, as of December 31, 2021, this column will no longer be published. The new editors take over as of January 5, 2022.
So today as we celebrate endings and look forward to a new beginning, we also celebrate the survival of local journalism.
Before I leave, let me tell you how the Looking Back column came about. It started with a visit.
It was 2017 and my husband and I flew out from my native New Mexico with a close cousin from Texas, Bart Greenway. We were here to visit my sister, Vicky Taylor. You know her as the founder, owner and editor of the Franklin County Free Press. While we were here, I discovered some of the rich histories of the places we visited. Philadelphia, Valley Forge, Gettysburg, but mostly right there in Franklin County.
My husband and I were so enamored with the area and its history, we started researching, wanting to learn more.
READ: Linda’s Looking Back columns
Seeds for a column
After returning home, and digging deeper into the historical aspects of Franklin County, we thought it would be a wonderful idea to share our discoveries with all of you. So the seeds for this column first took root.
The past few years have been amazing and I have learned so much. It is such a wonderful blessing to have gone on this journey with all of you, celebrating the complex and nuanced history of your county. I have learned a great deal and someday hope to come back to Franklin County to see many of the places I did not have the opportunity to see when I was there in 2017.
I want to personally thank you all for allowing me the opportunity to share more about Franklin County with you! It has been my honor and pleasure to write this column.
I know that in the coming years, the paper will only continue to grow and will continue to report news with the highest standards of quality that it has these past few years. It is fitting that today we celebrate endings and look forward to a long and productive future for this community newspaper.
Good-bye and good luck to the new editors of the “Franklin County Free Press.”
Linda Osborn, Genealogist and Historical Researcher
[Linda can be reached at losborn40@hotmail.com]
