"General Stores" with Ted Reinstein

The Friends of the Hopedale Library are pleased to present “General Stores” by Ted Reinstein on Wednesday, September 26th. The program will start at 6:30 pm. Books will be available for purchase.

The general store, as old as America itself, harkens back to a simpler time and a more innocent and rural nation. The general store conjures a country-like place where kids come in to by penny candy, and adults to buy everything from swaths of fabric, to fresh vegetables, to four-penny nails. The general store was the vital and inviting heart of a community, where everyone not only knew your name, but how you took that coffee, how many kids you had, and how’s your dad doing, anyway? And in tough times, it was a place that often treated customers like family, extending credit when no one else would. The general store was real-life Norman Rockwell—deeply woven into America’s cultural identity, an integral part of the nation’s self-portrait from its earliest days. Fact is, the general store is still very much here, and very much in business. What’s more, like the diner, it has seen resurgence. In some places, it is even being reimagined for a new era.

Ted Reinstein has been a reporter for “Chronicle,” WCVB-TV/Boston’s award-winning—and America’s longest-running, locally-produced—nightly news magazine since 1997. In addition, he is a regular contributor for the station’s political roundtable show and writes a weekly opinion column. He lives just west of Boston with his wife and two daughters. He is the author of Globe Pequot’s New England Notebook and Wicked Pissed: New England's Most Famous Feuds. There is no charge for this program. To reserve your spot please call 508-634-2209 or stop by the library during operating hours.