This Friday marks five years of Real Hartford‘s existence, so leading up to that, there will be some extra attention on the site itself.
In addition to whatever else happens over the next few days, there will be fun and games from March 12-16, 2012, beginning with a special edition of Place this Place. There will be other such challenges on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. What happens on Friday is a surprise.
Also on Friday, but not a secret: Real Hartford Happy Hour at La Paloma Sabanera from 3-6pm. This is where and when winners of this week’s contests can pick up their prizes. If you want to stop by and chat, grab yourself the drink special (Irish Cream Mocha) and pull up a chair.
Real Hartford began on March 16, 2007 when it seemed that anti-urban sentiment had come back into vogue. Hartford was receiving almost entirely negative coverage by the news media and people who refused to experience the city firsthand were eating it up. This online news site developed as a way to shine light on other aspects of life in Hartford, to show that not all residents are creators nor victims of violence, though some certainly are and have been. The goal has been to show that Hartford residents have a range of experiences, just like their suburban counterparts.
In no particular order, here are some of the more popular items published in recent memory:
Facilities
Guide to Bathrooms in Downtown Hartford
Parking
Education
Student Transiency and Concentration of Poverty Tied to Student Success
Deciphering the Education Reform Debate 1 and 2
Transfer of Classical Magnet Principals
Meeting at Burns Off-Limits to Media
Hartford Schools Banning Media from Public Meetings
Hartford Schools Admits Error in Banning Media
HPS Not in Compliance with Special Education Requirements
Back to School Guide: Reclaiming Your Child’s Education 1 & 2
Bicycles
Discover Hartford Bicycling and Walking Tour
An Urban Move: No Gas Required
Parades
Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade 1 & 2 and 3
A Glance at the West Indian Day Parade
Frog Hollow
Thugs and Gangbangers of Pope Park
Perception Issues
Push for More Security on Trinity Campus
HPD Releases Description of Suspects in Assault
Student Leaders Prepare to Speak Out Against Gating Trinity College
Trinity Students Oppose Gating Campus
172 Pounds of Guns Found in West End
Urban Renewal
Activism
Trinity Students Protest Hate on Campus
Thanks for reading. Thanks for leaving comments which as a whole are smarter, more civil, and more dignified than comments left on many other news sites. Thanks for the countless messages, phone calls, and emails. Keep ’em coming!
Real Hartford » Place this Place: Five for Real
[…] To be in the running for fabulous prizes, you’ll need to be especially competitive this week. As a bonus, the rules will be contradictory, opaque, and bizarre– much like local government. […]
Jane
Congratulations and Happy Anniversary!! Love reading your blog and all you contribute to the community.
Kerri Provost
Thanks, Jane! I always look forward to your Place this Place guesses.
Steve CTMQ
Your thumb bends funny.
Happy anniversary!
Kerri Provost
That’s a stunt thumb.
Richard
Thousands of claps, claps, claps to Real Hartford on your 5th anniversary from Furbirdsqueerly. After we are done reading all of our e-mails our first stop is always Real Hartford. More times than not we stop back more than once if we like the hot topic and the comments.
We love your found street art photographs. So much better and 100 times more refreshing than the presentations by the hotsie totsie arty art world down on Main Street Americkkka.
We hope you have many many more years to keep us all moving and thinking. Thanks Kerri.
Mucho love and kisses
The gang at Furbirdsqueerly
Kerri Provost
Thanks! I always look forward to your comments.
Real Hartford » Trivia: Five for Real
[…] Day three of anniversary festivities brings you trivia. If you’ve won already, you can keep playing. Whoever gets the most questions answered correctly first wins. […]
Real Hartford » Caption Contest: Five for Real
[…] Winners from this game and all others previously can pick up their more-or-less insignificant prizes (with a value of yum) from La Paloma Sabanera on March 16th from 3-6pm (or make other arrangements) during the Real Hartford Happy Hour. […]
Heather B
Hooray, congrats on five years, and thanks for starting this wonderful site right when I needed it most.
Kerri Provost
Aww, thanks!