Was it the Dells who sang that phrase in 1969 or ‘just my imagination running away with me’ manipulating my brain to categorize the intimacy, caring, and gracious spirits that permeated Thursday evening’s “ word, revisited ?” Featured speaker, Dr. John W. Crowley and Bill Berry, Jr., CEO/Publisher, aaduna   John W. Crowley conducted a well-paced informative lecture fueled by scholarly knowledge, wit, booming laughter, and a soft cadence that resonated with his audience. His topic dealt with the history and scope of 19th century books illuminated by historical anecdotes, publishing formats, and behind the scenes historical observances.  Mark Twain's "The Innocents Abroad (1869) book cover   Dr. Crowley covered pre-Civil War and subsequent book publishing initiatives and direct marketing strategies to solicit the ordering of subscription books by the general public, and then delivering those purchased books into the hands of a welcoming public....

So active community member and working mom, Jenna Quinn, arranged for the City of Auburn, New York Police Department to hold training sessions for the upcoming local civil service exam for prospective police officers. The department hopes to recruit interested folks who will help create a more diverse group of people sitting for the exam and hopefully, into the department. The current chief of police, Shawn Butler, his command staff, and officers are committed to community engagement through their proactive “Coffee with a Cop” initiative, progressive diversity training for officers, and using the civil service exam as the first step to have the community work with the department to help create a more diversified police department. These ongoing efforts are a proactive pathway to the department’s commitment to partnership with the Auburn community.  Department officers will host and teach training sessions regarding the civil service exams at the Booker T. Washingt...