By MICHAEL BATTEY

The media theorist Marshall McLuhan, who made his cultural mark in the 60’s, was probably best known for his proclamation that “the medium is the message.”
And, looking back, how spot on was McLuhan with such prescience in the face of the potpourri of communication options that folks numbingly choose from today?

By JONATHAN GIBBS

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Once or twice a week after deadline and the paper is put to bed (which I guess means it’s laid down onto its deathbed) my son and I get in my truck and go an adventure around town in a search to combine work (mine) with pleasure (his).  Last week we went into the office, and there in front of the reception desk was a blonde, blue-eyed girl about his size (38 inches) and age (3). As soon as I set him down, he walked in as straight a line as a toddler can walk, looked the girl in the eye and without preamble, announced pleasantly, “My name’s Nathan.”
Getting no immediate response as the girl moved closer to her mother while looking to her for guidance, threw down his trump cards – a paired suit of hearts – vulnerability tied to trust: “I live on Hawthorne Ave.” Her continued indifference left him nonplussed, and in those two acts I saw how much more mentally healthy a post-toddler can be than an adult. It made me ponder what happens in the intervening years between childhood and adulthood to complicate and entangle our human emotions so wretchedly that we end up erecting blast barriers around our hearts.
I still struggle with the truism that it’s none of my business what other people think of me. I can be in a crowded room with 40 people all of whom are fully engaged in a deafening, boisterous chant exclaiming my continued greatness in all things, yet if there’s one person in another house, half a block away in a closed bathroom with the fan running and the radio blaring, and he happens to mutter, “What a dope that Gibbs guy jerk is,” that’s the voice to which I’m listening.

BY ABBY FOX

School Superintendent Charlie Meyers announced his retirement Tuesday before the school committee, saying East Greenwich “for 16 years has been very good to me; it’s been the highlight of my career.”
Prior to four years as superintendent, Meyers was principal at Frenchtown School for six years, 1993 to 1999, and at Eldredge School for six years, 1999 to 2005.
“I have some other interests, including church and family,” he said, and hopefully, “a second career in athletics,” as a coach of football or women’s softball, preferably at the college level.
“Charlie, you came at a time when we really needed you, and you’ve shown great leadership,” said School Committee Chair Jean Ann Guliano. “You rose to the occasion and you’re at the top of your game.” The school district “to your credit, works like clockwork,” she said.
Meyers said the retirement would be effective as of June 30, the last day of this fiscal year, but that he would stay on until a new superintendent is hired, to ease the transition.
“You should get some good candidates,” he said.
School committee member Anne Palumbo teasingly suggested making a motion to deny his resignation and the committee applauded him.

Photo: Noah LeClaire-Conway

Spring arrives officially tomorrow, although the Eastern bluebird above, seen this week on Frenchtown Road, likely overwintered in the state. 

BY ABBY FOX

The economic uncertainty we’re living in is making many people stay home and save their money, but several Main Street businesses say they’re hanging on and they think they’re going to make it after all.
The businesses who feel they’re on the sunny side of the street have one important trait in common: the confidence that comes with years of experience in their work and a long-standing relationship with customers.

By Jonathan Gibbs

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How does that cliché go? March comes in like a Devil frog and leaves like a Clown anemone fish. Or maybe it comes in like a Giant anteater and leaves like a Laughing kookaburra. Maybe it comes in like a Madagascar Hissing cockroach and leaves like a Warty newt. Whatever it is, I’ve seen 56 springs approach now and it always surprises me how my happy anticipation begets optimism which then has the juice squeezed out of it like a Naked mole rat in the clutches of a Green anaconda.

Katie Bialy with Best Buddies  Josh and Will at a Christmas party for Best Buddies.

 By Matt Cate

    Many high schoolers drift aimlessly through their four years of mandatory institutionalization and only find meaning later on in life.  For Katie Bialy, however, high school is an opportunity to reach out to people who need contact the most.  
    Katie, a junior at East Greenwich High School, is a member of her school's Best Buddies club.  Best Buddies is an international organization that reaches out to individuals with intellectual disabilities.