About

Welcome to the236diner.com, a hyperlocal blog started in January 2008. Here’s some information to answer your questions.

Why is the blog called the 236 diner?

I named it the 236 diner because I wish we had an old fashioned diner in South Berwick, the kind of place where everyone in town goes to chat with neighbors, find out the news and gossip, debate issues, tell jokes and hang out.  I named my imaginary diner “the 236″ because of Route 236, the road that South Berwick shares with Eliot, Kittery and Berwick.  Route 236 is the route that goes through the center of town and it is the road that takes us out of town to Route 95 and the rest of the world.  All of our schools are on it and it is a source of some of our thorniest issues like traffic and conflicts about how South Berwick should develop.  In my imagination I serve really good pies at the diner and when people come in and ask for a cup of coffee I say “So, you want pie with that?”

Who are you?

My name is Molly Colman. I live in South Berwick with my spouse, Don Markley and two cats, Blue and Emma. I have lived here since 1990. For the first eight years I lived here I worked a 9-5 job in Portsmouth and left South Berwick most days. For the last ten years I have been working from my home as a consultant to nonprofits and small businesses. I am also a painter and have a studio at the Salmon Falls Mills in Rollinsford.

Why did you start this blog?

I love South Berwick but have been frustrated with how hard it is to keep up with what’s going on in town. The local papers do a less than adequate job of covering what’s happening here. We have no public access cable station and no local radio station. Not only is there no public forum for discussion and analysis of issues affecting South Berwick, it’s almost impossible to get basic information about what is happening at Town Hall without doing lots of legwork. Hence this blog. I am starting it with the hope it can become a place to learn about and discuss what is happening in town. I also want it to be a place to learn more about what this great little town has to offer.

So, what gives you the right to start a blog about South Berwick?

Just my interest and the fact that the internet makes it easy to write and publish information. I am not a writer, which you will realize as soon as you read my entries. I am not a journalist. I don’t hold any public office. I am a relative new comer to town. I do have the technical know how to do this and it has been a nagging desire for some time to do something to create a forum for information about South Berwick. I spend a great deal of time online and have seen how blogs can support communities.

Do you have some kind of agenda you are trying to push with this blog?

My main agenda with the blog is to provide a forum for people of this area to learn about and discuss their community. I have very strong progressive political beliefs. I think it is important to protect and conserve the environment. I don’t eat mammals. I try to buy local as much as possible. I would like to see a new library in town. Those beliefs will come across in my blog entries and in comments I make, but the point of the blog is to allow for discussion of all of the diverse views and ideas of people of South Berwick and to provide information that is useful to people who read the site.

The blog is kind of lame, will it get better?

I sure hope so. I am starting this in hopes that others will make comments and generate discussion. And even more, I hope there are some who will step forward to contribute articles so that the blog represents a broader view from the community.

Hey, I would like to help, have some ideas, or want to complain. How do I get in touch with you?

Email me at molly@the236diner.com .