There’s a diner in the small town where I grew up called Charlie’s. It sits right on Main Street between the school and the library and it is the center of town both literally and figuratively. Every morning, as the coffee brews and the bacon sizzles on the grill, Charlie’s fills with locals meeting for breakfast and planning their days. It’s like a Richard Russo novel come to life.
At the end of the counter there’s a large table that, throughout the course of the day, fills with a collection of men from all walks of life who share a cup of coffee, read the paper and talk about what’s going on. There’s the former mayor, the attorney, the retired businessman and all manner of others who are part of the “front table” group. It’s a longstanding tradition that’s grown organically over the years. People drift in and out; sometimes there are six people at the table and sometimes there’s one. Exactly how much substantive discussion takes place on a given day is a matter of speculation. But the table, the forum, is always there.
Scholars of Arthurian legend suggest that the round table was adopted by King Arthur because there is no head of the table, implying that everyone who congregates around it has equal status and shares a singleness of purpose.
As our experiment in connecting the Chautauqua County community online continues, we are excited to introduce a new feature to CQ Vibe: the Round Table. In the spirit of Charlie’s “front table” and the legend of King Arthur’s “round table” the feature is an informal forum to share thoughts and insights on matters impacting the region in a constructive, egalitarian way.
Here’s how it works: we post something thought-provoking. Maybe it’s an article from a newspaper or magazine. Maybe it’s an essay from a local resident or elected official. Maybe it’s an editorial. We encourage you to share your thoughts, opinions and ideas about the piece and submit them to us. A few days later, we post your responses and highlight those that either best articulate the majority opinion or bring something entirely new to the table. There will be a new piece to comment on every week, but threads from past weeks can continue indefinitely.
We hope that the Round Table not only brings new ideas to the forefront, but also connects the ideas with the momentum and resources necessary to make them a reality.
The CQ Vibe Round Table begins this Sunday and there’s a chair waiting for you.
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TAGS
Round Table, ideas, forum |
