Will You Vote For Wellsboro?

by Kevin Coolidge

My family goes back several generations in Wellsboro, and I was born at Soldiers and Sailors hospital, right in Wellsboro. We've mostly been blue collar workers, farmers and factory workers and truck drivers. It's not always an easy way to make a living. I remember when the local glass plant went from Corning Inc., to GTE, to Osram-Sylvania to closed.

A lot of my family worked there. I worked there myself for five years. Factory work can be hard on the body, but it was a job that put me through school. I moved away from Wellsboro for that schooling, but moved back, because I love my hometown.

That's why I nominated Wellsboro for the Main Street Pennsylvania contest. If Wellsboro wins, the $25,000 will go to the local Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce. I don't know what the money will be used for. $25,000 doesn't go as far as it used to. I'm hoping it will go to a shop local campaign, or maybe used to attract a company that can put Wellsboro and Tioga County back to work.

Sure, I have a vested interest in the area. I have a business that I approach with the same working class ethic I was born to. I work every day, if the bookstore isn't open, I'm working on my writing. My books are set in Wellsboro and Tioga County. The first rule of writing is write what you know. I also write where I know.

One of my goals with my books is to put Wellsboro into the national spotlight. Wellsboro already does so much right with the Laurel Festival, and Dickens of a Christmas, and has that feeling that just says home. I want to continue on the hard work of those who came before, that milked the cows, that picked the cullet, that promoted the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon.

So, vote for Wellsboro. It's easy. Just click on the photo of Wellsboro and you can vote once every 24 hours until April 23rd. Then we get to see if Wellsboro moves to the next round, but most importantly, vote for Wellsboro in other ways.

Buy your shoes in town if you can, or your underwear. If you buy a book, buy it from my store, From My Shelf Books & Gifts. I put that money right back into the community like my family has been doing for generations. Don't do it for me, or your neighbor, or yourself. Do it for everyone. Do it for Wellsboro and Tioga County.


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