Stuck At Home? Tell Us About It

We've all been running around a lot, trying to get our lives together, and get ready for keeping to ourselves for a while. In a city like ours, it will be strange not to see as much of each other as we're all used to.

As most of you know, the Lakewood Observer is completely community-written, by Lakewoodites, for Lakewoodites. The paper was created to help us connect and communicate with one another. During these unprecedented times, we all need each other more than ever.

If you have a story you want to tell your neighbors, or information you need to share during this time, submit it to our website, and we'll print it. If you have any tips to share-- ie, ways to make your own cleaning products, or hints for sanitizing your house, ways to stay healthy, fabulous recipes, ways to occupy the hours we will all have indoors, please send them in so that we can share them with the community.

I'll start: In our house, my kids are keeping journals of these days, to share with their children someday about what this was like. We're including photos which we may print, and glue on the journal pages, just like back in the stone age! If anyone would like to share their impressions of "Lakewood from home,"  please do so. They will make all of us feel less alone.

Also, the Lakewood Observer has been looking into putting a puzzle page together. If you are good at designing puzzles, be they crosswords, Sudokus, or something of your own design, please submit these also. You can take a photo of your creation and submit it to our Member Center. We would love to share these with the community.  I hear there are crossword-making tutorials online. If you're creating a crossword, try to make it Lakewood-centric. It's okay if it's obscure, like "Lakewood, Birthplace of Punk Rock," the crossword puzzle that will probably be coming out of my household. 

Photos, cartoons and drawings are also welcome! A shout out to eleven year old Grace McDermott for sending in the first reader-cartoon with her "Quarantoon" this issue. I've been thinking about the scared toilet paper creatures running away from shoppers every time I've seen an empty shelf. Be like Grace and share what makes you laugh with the rest of us.

This paper you are looking at is both in print and online. In the days to come, we will make decisions regarding whether we will continue on paper during this  time. As always, your submissions will appear both in print and online, or just online.

We're so fortunate to be in Lakewood where we already know how to look out for one another. Thank you!