Written By Sherwood Kohn
It has been four years since we started Carroll Magazine.
We started publishing in good times, or at least most of us thought things were bearable.
Now times are tough. The new president, Barack Obama, faces daunting problems. The economy, worldwide, is a shambles, the victim of incompetence, negligence and greed. We are still fighting two very draining wars. First class education and health care are increasingly available only to a privileged few. Our infrastructure is crumbling. We are in thrall to Big Oil. Global warming is placing humanity, which most experts agree caused the problem, in jeopardy. And those are just the most obvious troubles.
But we are not in the business of solving the world’s predicaments. We founded Carroll Magazine as a service publication, dedicated to the everyday concerns of people who live in Carroll County, and we hope to continue providing advice, entertainment and information – in good times and bad – that our readers can use in their daily lives; not deep stuff, but practical and we hope, useful intelligence.
As I have said before, it always amazes me that there is an apparently inexhaustible wellspring of interesting material here. Who are the citizens of Carroll County? What do they do? What are their passions, their fascinations? How do they live? And above all, how can we, as observer, reporter and provider of service, give them something that may enhance their lives?
That, it seems to me, is a worthwhile objective, especially in tough times, and one that we can dedicate ourselves to, as we begin our fifth year of existence.
We hope to be of service in the coming year, no matter what happens. We have unwavering faith in your astuteness, good will and good taste, and we pledge to continue keeping you abreast of events, trends and local phenomena in 2009.
We wish you the best. May the new year be an improvement over the old.
