Reviving the Local Opinion Page

When I flip through old issues of The Bulletin from the early 2000s, the Opinion page still feels alive in my hands. Back then, each week’s issue of our tri-town local weekly publication featured an Editorial by the late, great Bridget Albert — the paper’s editor — alongside occasional Guest Columns and a lively Letters to the Editor section.

Bridget’s editorials were her own well-considered views on local issues, from school funding to town planning. Guest opinion columns gave space for neighbors to make their case on matters close to home. And the Letters section? That was the beating heart of it all: residents sounding off, praising, protesting, questioning, and, occasionally, thanking each other.

I was proud to be part of that newsroom from 2001 to 2003, serving as a correspondent under Bridget’s guidance. I remember attending many a town board or commission meeting on assignment each week, turning in my articles on Sunday evening so she could edit and prepare them for the next edition of the newspaper.

Bridget would then spend Mondays in the ‘composition room’ at the New Haven Register’s building in Milford (the Bulletin and Register were then both part of the same publishing company) so she could send the final layouts to the printer by Monday afternoon — all so that folded print edition could appear in everyone’s postal mailbox by Thursday. At the time — long before the rise of social media — we had no way to know that these weekly local news reporting rhythms would be part of the wave that marked some of the final days of print publications serving Woodbridge. Ah, the by-gone days of our little town.

Today, the Woodbridge Town Chronicle aims to revive that spirit. If you have something to say — about a current town debate, a piece of local history, or even a simple appreciation for a neighbor’s good work — consider this your invitation.

You can:

• Write a Letter to the Editor (up to 300 words) to share your view on an issue in town.
• Submit a Guest Opinion Column (600–800 words) for a deeper dive on a topic you care about.

Visit woodbridge.town for submission guidelines and to send in your letter or column. Please include in addition to your name, your address, and phone number (for verification purposes only — contact info will not be published without your consent).

This will be your page. Let’s bring back a tradition that once connected us across kitchen tables, ballfields, and Town Hall meetings — one letter, one opinion, one conversation at a time.