Shepherdstown is really an extraordinary place. Whether it is festivals, the farmers market, arts or local shops and restaurants, this town is a great place to be.

Like many other small towns in America, Shepherdstown is defined by its people – and it has great people. In many ways the people of Shepherdstown are extraordinary. Caring deeply about various issues, supporting local businesses and focus on community involvement all mark positives for this fair town.

However, Shepherdstown also houses some very ordinary people, places and things.

Whether it is the firefighters or police keeping the town safe, or bakers at the Sweet Shop Bakery making breads and cookies. Whether it is the professors at Shepherd University, or members of the town council. Whether it is the historic appeal of the Thomas Shepherd Grist Mill, or the youth soccer games at Morgan’s Grove Park. All of these things and more are simply ordinary.

But, ordinary is a great thing. It is the ordinary aspects of life – cooking dinner, taking your children to school, laughing with friends, buying produce at the farmers market – that make life worth living. Let us not set aside all of the ordinary, often unnoticed parts of life in favor of the extraordinary things.

Life is lived one day at a time, and life is ordinary. Let us live peacefully in the ordinary. Find joy in the everyday of life.