This time of year – with preparations for the Thanksgiving holiday in progress – we are reminded to pause a bit to think about all we appreciate in our lives. Even here at Friendsville Square – where we sometimes feel too caught up in the details of publishing a weekly post – we value the importance of reflection. So, we wanted to share what’s on our gratitude list this year.
Who and What Are on Our Gratitude List?
Readers and Subscribers
Where would our blog be without our readers and subscribers? They are the reason we publish a post each week. We thank all of you SO MUCH for your support every time you visit Friendsville Square! You also continue to motivate us to write interesting posts and find guest bloggers to add even more variety.
If you aren’t a subscriber yet, it’s super easy to become one! Just complete the form on our home page or on our Subscribe page. As a subscriber, you’ll receive an email whenever we publish a new post. We don’t send any spam emails, and we won’t try to sell you anything.
Want to help us grow our readership? We’d love to have you share post links with your friends and family who might find the topic interesting. Word-of-mouth promotion is awesome!
Guest Bloggers
We love writing posts for our blog, but we absolutely appreciate our guest bloggers working with us to bring new perspectives, stories, and know-how to Friendsville Square. Aren’t they the best? Most of our guest bloggers are friends from college and our former coworkers who have helped us grow our blog so much in just over a year. We’re equally excited that some new guest bloggers have already agreed to share their writing talents here on the square in the coming months!
Social Media Followers, Likes, Shares, and Comments
We know social media apps provide great platforms to promote Friendsville Square and each post. We are so thankful that many of you follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest! Your likes, shares and comments mean the world to us!
If you don’t follow us on social media yet, here’s where to find us:
Facebook – Friendsville Square page
Instagram – @friendsvillesquare
Pinterest – @friendsvillesquare
New Friends We Met on Our Friendsville Pilgrimage
As many of you know, we recently made a pilgrimage of sorts to visit all the Friendsville towns and unincorporated areas in the country. It was an amazing journey together, but the most special part was meeting some new “friends” along the way! They each took time to talk with us about their communities and what was special about each one.
A big thank you goes out from us to these friends:
Timothy Hocking, the chairman of the Wabash County Board of Commissioners, who spoke with us about the Friendsville area near Mt. Carmel, Ill.
Mayor Spencer Schlosnagle and Wanda Guard, administrative assistant and clerk-treasurer, in Friendsville, Md., who shared the town’s history and charm
A married couple in Friendsville, Penn., who talked with Heather about the origins of their community
A woman from Historical Museum in Covert, Mich., who spoke with Jodi on the phone about the history of the Friendsville area near their town
Check out our road trip post: “Our Road Trip to the Real Friendsvilles.”
Working Together as Long-time Friends
Almost two years ago, we started discussing ideas for a creative project we could work on together during retirement. Those talks turned into the idea of a blog site, and Friendsville Square was the result. As friends who met during college, we treasure our many years of friendship and are grateful for this opportunity to bring our love of making connections through writing to a broader audience. Each of us brings similar talents but also different skills to our partnership, and we enjoy learning new things to make Friendsville Square a great “destination” for our readers.
Here's to many more years as friends!
May you all find many things to add to your own gratitude lists! Happy Thanksgiving from Heather and Jodi and Friendsville Square!