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I remember sitting in a drafty basement archive three years ago, the smell of damp parchment and old glue thick in the air, staring at a pile of vellum that looked more like dried skin than history. I had been… Continue reading

I spent thirty-one years in local government, and if there is one thing that gets my goat, it’s the idea that you need a high-priced consultant or a degree in urban planning to understand your own backyard. People often think… Continue reading

I remember sitting in a drafty village hall back in ’94, staring at a glossy, expensive-looking prospectus from a regional foundation that promised “transformative community impact.” It looked lovely, but when I actually asked to see their breakdown of administrative… Continue reading

I remember sitting in a drafty church hall back in the nineties, staring at a tiny budget and a list of names that felt entirely too “professional” for our little neighborhood project. We had been told that if we wanted… Continue reading

I once sat in a draughty village hall, watching a lovely woman try to explain a complex, three-year strategic vision for a local heritage group to four confused pensioners. She had dozens of glossy brochures, but she didn’t have a… Continue reading

I spent thirty-one years in local government watching people trip over their own feet because they thought they needed a massive grant and a museum building to make a difference. They get so caught up in the grandiosity of it… Continue reading

I remember standing in a drafty community hall during my final year in local government, watching a lovely local photography display go completely ignored. The talent was immense, but the little white cards next to the frames were filled with… Continue reading

I remember sitting in a drafty church hall back in ’98, surrounded by three dozen dusty boxes of old photographs and a committee that couldn’t agree on whether to serve tea or coffee. Everyone was talking about “curatorial vision” and… Continue reading

I spent thirty years in local government, and if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that people love to make simple things unnecessarily complicated. You’ll often hear folks saying you need a professional historian, a laminated guidebook, and a… Continue reading

I remember sitting in a drafty church hall three years ago, surrounded by a mountain of faded black-and-white photographs and a group of neighbors who were all terrified of the word ‘publishing.’ One gentleman was convinced that learning how to… Continue reading