We are happy to announce that our website is undergoing a rebranding! We are changing our name from Scottdale Alive to Main Street Scottdale. We decided to get one last ‘fresh start’, using the tools of electronic media, to help residents of Scottdale to engage and discuss the past, present, and future of our town.
We will maintain and monitor the website, the Facebook group, and the new message board system, all branded with the Main Street Scottdale name, to provide three assets to learn about Scottdale and all it has to offer.
The website has been around in one form or another since 2009. There is a complete business directory and event calendar for our area available. We also runs small ads for local Scottdale businesses free of charge.
We also have the ability to publish, for lack of a better term, ‘opt eds’ provided by the citizens in town. If anyone feels the need to write, or has written a short story, article, or just a letter to the editor, we are willing to share those with the rest of the town. We are hoping that people will be willing to share their thoughts so everyone can view life through a different set of eyes.
Any topic from sewing to the ‘best fishing hole you ever found’ is a possibility. If you just want to blow off steam and just praise or complain, we can do that too. I am willing to help assist anyone that might be willing to give it a shot.
The Facebook group is, well, a Facebook group. The only thing that makes the Main Steet Scottdale group different is that we frown on using it to promote your business or yourself. Oddly enough, Facebook is one of the reasons that I decided to add the next section to Main Steet Scottdale…..a message board system.
We used message boards, or forums, years ago to allow groups of people with like interests to have discussions in a true ‘threaded’ environment. The organizational flow makes it easy to find a specific topic you are interested in without having to scroll through pages of posts (like Facebook) to find something you are interested in. We created it as an alternative for those that desire an area to have more in-depth discussions that are just too cumbersome on other social media platforms. We understand a forum system won’t be for everyone, but it’s another good place to share your thoughts and ideas with the rest of the town. It doesn’t cost anything and you can even use a nifty ‘screen’ name instead of your real one. We are optimistic that we can begin a free exchange of ideas without fear of being throttled by social media fact-checkers and moderation. (That doesn’t mean that we won’t moderate if necessary to keep order, but it won’t be as heavy handed as social media tends to be.) We hope everyone at least visits once to see if it’s your ‘cup of tea’.
Hopefully we will all enter a new year with guarded optimism. If the last election proved anything, it shows how much power the people have when they come together with a common goal. It’s time everyone starts to pay a little more attention, perhaps volunteer time and effort, and most importantly, run for local political office. It’s time for the next generation to step up and take the controls for the future of this town.
We urge everyone to take part in sharing our views, goals, and wishes with everyone in the borough. For various reasons, Scottdale is on a downward trajectory, but with a little vision, a little help, and a lot of hope, there is no reason this town can be exactly what so many of you want it to be.
Please take part in the discussion. (And remember, NOTHING is off the table. We need opinions.)
