YOUR COLUMN HERE!

The above title was arrived at in jest with editor David Mandehr until we realized that it is no joke.

Our newsletter stands in need of news, opinions and articles by people like you. Do we have an accomplished gossip? For those who remember "Ursula Understands", how about Increase (A. Lapham) Improves. I I (aye, aye) We have the space going begging.

Do you wax poetic with language? Are you a budding journalist? It doesn't even have to be on the neighborhood or Madison. Our readers are eclectic and have varied tastes. I for example spend a fair amount of spare time doing historical/genealogical research on people NOT RELATED TO ME! The logical (or illogical) extension of this has resulted in additional opportunities for me to indulge in CHEAP TRAVEL. Greyhound, Amtrak, local public transportation and bike rental along with a membership in HOSTELLING INTERNATIONAL (which you can join here over on So.Butler) have put me in good stead. Besides friends and relatives, I've been able to stay with folks who I've performed "a genealogical act of kindness" for.

My last trip by train (for $178) included stops at Galveston, Texas, where I was able to stay on the beach, in the HI hostel located in the Sandpiper Motel for $15, New Orleans, Boston, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, back to Washington and then through the mountains of Virginia/West Virginia on my favorite train the Cardinal. En route I was able to visit with several of my contacts, one of them in Slidell, Louisiana. This couple I had met via their message on a Georgia County message board, seeking information on his side of the family in North Carolina & Georgia from 1801-1920. My research dovetailed and complemented theirs, so a bus ride from New Orleans over the causeway on Lake Ponchartrain to Slidell put we in touch with lunch, dinner and the guest room before the next train departure.

Now while the above may have little or nothing to do with the neighborhood or Madison, it MAY be of interest to some of you. For the next issue I promise some of my most sought after recipes (including my egg rolls)- but let's see some of your copy.

-Richard Linster

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