Lawrenceville Patch is One-Year Old!

In a way it’s hard to believe that Lawrenceville Patch turns one year old today. On the other hand, given the number of nights during the last year that I’ve found myself still typing away as the clock on my laptop reads 3 a.m., working on a breaking news story or editing copy for the next morning, it’s hard to believe the site isn’t older.

But yes, indeed, Lawrenceville Patch was launched to the public on Dec. 27, 2010. Since then, more than 2,300 articles and many thousands more photos have appeared on this site.  

To those of you who have been reading since the beginning, I would just like to offer you my gratitude for sticking with us and helping spread the word about what we’re doing here. Thanks also to those of you who have joined us more recently and have helped our readership continue to grow.

For those who have embraced Lawrenceville Patch by contributing your own photos or announcements, adding events to our calendar, or sharing your thoughts and opinions by commenting on some of the stories and issues we’ve covered, I want to congratulate you for helping make this first year a success.

Lawrenceville Patch is so much more than an online newspaper. It’s a place where you can take an active role in keeping your neighbors informed. It’s a place where you and other Lawrence Township residents and organizations can come to promote your events, share news through your photos, announcements and blogs, and debate the issues that matter most to you.

Please, if you have something you want to share with the community, do it here on Patch. Don’t worry, it's easy. If you want to post something to our calendar of upcoming events, even if it’s just a yard sale you’re having, click here.  To share news about your son or daughter making the honor roll or to submit some other announcement, click here.

Having worked in Mercer County as a reporter since 1994, I had some doubts when I first started this job that there would be enough going on in Lawrence Township to keep a daily news site like Lawrenceville Patch fresh.

How wrong I was!

So many newsworthy events take place in Lawrence every day that it is pretty much impossible to cover them all in the detail with which they deserve to be covered. I literally get hundreds of emails every week with press releases, invitations to upcoming events, and news tips. My staff of freelancers and I do our best to keep you updated on what’s going on with our municipal government, schools, police and emergency services, businesses, nonprofits and more.

But we can’t do it alone. We need you to continue to help by sharing your events, announcements and news tips.

I believe Lawrenceville Patch has only scratched the surface and will get better with time. There are many stories in this town that have not yet been reported; stories you deserve to read. We will do our best to get to them to you.

Obviously, with more than 2,300 articles published in the last 365 days, I can’t remember everything we’ve covered. But there are a few stories that stand out in my memory….

The past year certainly saw its fair share of extreme weather and unusual events, from snow storms like the and the to the and .  

There have been stories about tragedy, such as the in January, the in May, and the in August.

But there have also been stories about happier things, like the and the  for cancer research, both in March, trip to Disney World that I was able to go along on in May, and the earlier this month.

We’ve covered many serious crimes during the past year, including the , the in June, the in June, and the at Lawrence Shopping Center in November.

And we’ve also covered some downright silly crimes, like the and the .

We’ve also reported on many of the burglaries that have occurred in Lawrence Township during the last year, with perhaps the most shocking being the break-in on Cherry Tree Lane in September in which a .

We’ve written stories about some wonderful people like who was named “Police Officer of the Year” and who was honored with an award by the Mercer County Cherish the Children Foundation, as well as and who organized separate coat drives to help keep people warm during the winter, and a bunch of local “” who have done tremendous things in their young lives.

We've done stories about local businesses like the , and the , and the coming to Quaker Bridge Mall.  

And we’ve covered important Lawrence Township events like the , the , the , and . We’ve also learned a little township history through stories about the , the , , the that operated in town and the .

And, of course, we’ve covered the and , as well as a number of controversial municipal government stories, such as the , the , the and its , the township’s , and the new red light traffic enforcement camera system on Route 1.

So, dear readers, what stories do you remember from the last year? Let us know what stories stand out in your memories.