Letter from the Publisher
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the second anniversary of The Andovers. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy publishing it.
Over the two years, we’ve had fun in The Andovers. Through our magazine, we strive to reflect a side of Andover and North Andover that isn’t explored in other publications. Most importantly, we work to feature you and your neighbors in our pages.
As I write this column, my wife and I are recovering from an extremely busy and fun Easter weekend. We hosted family and friends, and that’s what made it so much fun. The friends were our former neighbors who spent the weekend with us feasting, playing and laughing.
Neighbors come in all types. There are the neighbors with whom we share the occasional wave. There are the neighbors we chat with over the fence, or stop to talk with while out on a stroll. Then there are the neighbors to whom we become as close as – sometimes even closer than – we are to family.
I bet you have various types of neighbors, too. If you are fortunate, you might even have neighbors you raised your kids with, laughed with, and even cried with. You have their back when they need you, and vice versa.
If you don’t, you are missing out on a slice of life.
Our friends Ernie and Carol Tumolo lived next door to us in the early 1990s. When they moved in they had two children and we had two children. When we moved away, we had two children and they had five.
One of those five children is our god-daughter, Kimberly. The two eldest, Lindsay and Danny, are embarking on life as young adults. The middle child, Michelle, is a star lacrosse player for Syracuse University (we got to see her and her teammates beat BU this particular weekend). The youngest, Eric, wasn’t around long enough for us to get to know him as a neighbor, but he fits right in like he never missed the impromptu picnics in our back yards back in the day.
When you choose life in a neighborhood, you choose life with other people existing in fairly close proximity. Not everyone gets along perfectly, yet life can be at its best when neighbors become more than the occasional wave.
For us, the Tumolos grew to be part of our family. Our two houses almost became one. We never had to wonder what we would do on weekends if there were no special plans. All it took was a game board and a few beverages.
What makes Andover and North Andover so unique is that each town is made of neighborhoods conducive to building this kind of relationship. The recent economic situation has made the game of keeping up with the Joneses unworthy of the chase. So why not invite the Joneses over for a game of Pictionary or Scrabble and a bottle of wine?
If we accomplish anything with our magazine, we hope it will be a celebration of life in The Andovers. We want to help you get to know your neighbors by featuring them in stories and photos each time a magazine is delivered to your mailbox or your favorite store.
In its pages, you may find out something you didn’t know about a neighbor. You might see a place where you can eat or shop with a neighbor. You might even see an old friend or neighbor you lost touch with over the years.
Not sure where to begin when it comes to getting know your neighbors? Here is a suggestion: When you finish reading this magazine, pass it on to neighbors. Maybe they haven’t seen it yet, and it will be a great conversation starter.
Oh, and if you do follow my suggestion, please be sure you leave the subscription card in the magazine. We really do need the revenue. The Tumolos are a family of seven, and it isn’t cheap to feed them when they visit.
Also, if you have any suggestions on how we can improve our two-year-old venture, simply call me at 978-946-2110 or e-mail agetler@theandoversmagazine.com.
Best,
Al Getler,
Publisher
The Andovers