Founder and longtime publisher of the Beacon Hill Times, Karen Cord Taylor, turns her weekly column to the subject of digital groups that have formed in neighborhoods. Highlighted is the North End’s own NEWMA (North End / Waterfront Mothers Association) Google Group that currently has 645 members. The most active member and moderator is Jessica Dello Russo who was interviewed for the article.
“Since I came back I had to find some sort of community,” said Jessica Dello Russo, who grew up in the North End and lives there again with her 5-year-old son, Ezio. She said people used to rely on telephones and telephone chains, but email groups are easier.
Taylor admits lurking there (ok, so do I) and describes a typical set of postings:
Recent messages from subscribers range widely. One noted that enrollment time for the Boston Public Schools starts in January. Several messages detail activities at the North End Branch Library, the North End Music and Performing Arts Center and the Greenway. A salon offered free blow-dries. One family had a toddler bed they were offering for free. Another family wanted to borrow a VCR. Did anyone know of a parking space for rent? A Northeastern grad student offered her babysitting services. A child lost his stuffed monkey at the playground. His mother wondered if anyone had found it.
Read the Downtown View column.
Find out more about NEWMA at www.NEWMA.info and sign up for the Google Group at http://groups.google.com/group/newma.
