Editor's Notebook: Patch Celebrates its 100th Site Launch

Since Ridgefield became the 14th Patch town back in October, the company has continued to grow. Then just in New Jersey and Connecticut, today Patch is in nine states throughout the country and is 99 sites strong. Today, site 100 launches.

Ridgefield Patch has already been covering all things great, small and local for the past 10 months. In honor of our ongoing commitment to local news here even as Patch grows, here is a totally unscientific list of 100 things, in no particular order—compiled with help from readers, whose contributions are noted in parentheses—that make Ridgefield a fantastic community to live in and to cover.

100. There are plenty of options for cupcakes!
99. A DRG-A school system...
98. ...whose superintendent celebrates the school year's end with a trip to Chez Lenard
97. The Garden of Ideas (Courtney Apgar)
96. Ballard Park (Courtney Apgar)
95. The Recreation Center... (Courtney Apgar)
94. ...and its walking path
93. The variety of kid-friendly options nearby (Courtney Apgar)
92. Wendy Lionetti...
91. ...and her unending supply of pretzel M&Ms
90. The Planning & Zoning Commissioners offer entertaining banter during land use discussions
89. Ridgefielders are generous...
88. ...and proudly shop local...
87. ...and go running, both for exercise and for fundraisers, even when nobody is chasing them
86. The town knows how to throw a great 300th anniversary party (Shari Burkybile)
85. The streets, while often treacherous, are beautiful—I'm looking at you, Cains Hill Road
84. One Ridgefield couple is this Local Editor's caffeine, wireless and yoga hookup
83. Sarah's Wine Bar has a spankin' new deck
82. The trees lining Main Street
81. The two major political parties may not see eye to eye, but they're both good at feeding their reporters
80. Main Street is teeming on sunny days, with both people...
79. ...and adorable dogs
78. First Selectman Rudy Marconi is a dedicated public servant
77. The shared file on the Community Center computer system is called "shared goodies"
76. The Community Center also has some sweet, sweet porch rocking chairs
75. Ridgefield Green Village Initiative is starting community gardens all over town
74. The only sure things in life here are change (like everywhere else) and the fact that John Katz will be wearing a black cowboy outfit
73. Magda Fincham never misses a chance to advocate for a pharmacy for Branchville
72. ROAR
71. Roz Chast, Bill Franzen and their glorious holiday decorations
70. Harvey Fierstein
69. The Hickories
68. The Alternative High School students are an inspiration
67. Austin Drukker's Hawaiian shirt collection
66. The man that jogs on Main Street around 11 p.m.
65. The town is safe enough to exercise outside at all hours
64. Anyone on Dick Aaron's mailing list never has to check the weather
63. Rev. Mark Delcuze
62. Running, biking or walking my dog on Main Street! Year round it's beautiful! (Heidi Marcus)
61. Ridgefield Playhouse
60. CHIRP
59. RMAC
58. One never knows what random things are behind all the high gates and walls
57. Lowest crime rate in the state
56. Top-rated town in Connecticut Magazine, continually
55. The Little Pub is always packed
54. The town's two farmers markets
53. If you need a mellow dog fix, chances are there's one hanging out at Valery's
52. The Big Read is here!
51. The town is a foodie destination
50. We have our own theater, symphony orchestra, art museum and artist guild, and people support them
49. John Frey has promised that future RTC election gatherings will have cupcakes
48. The Fountain
47. Steve's Bagels salad club
46. My Italian neighbor, Vera, who lives in Goa half the year and has penchants for Chinese astrology and clever teasing
45. The frequency with which Rudy Marconi and Andy Bodner's shirt-tie-suit color schemes match at Board of Selectmen meetings
44. The fire chief, Planning and Zoning Chairman and the majority of the Board of Selectmen are all women.
43. Riding bikes down Main Street as a family and then going to Deborah Ann's (Stephani Brown)
42. The sense of tranquility and the wildlife sounds outside in the evening (Stephani Brown)
41. Ridgefield Ice Cream after swimming all day (Stephani Brown)
40. All the hiking trail options (Stephani Brown)
39. Maurice Sendak is our homeboy
38. There's no fast food except Subway...
37. ...but there are multiple organic supermarkets
36. There are plenty of eateries with outdoor seating
35. The Letters to the Editor in The Ridgefield Press
34. I-84, I-684, I-95, the Merritt and Metro North are all reasonably accessible
33. The Memorial Day Parade (Margaret Salmore)
32. The tree-lighting ceremony (Margaret Salmore)
31. The fact that it has its own half-marathon and triathlon (Margaret Salmore)
30. The town's history, like the cannonball in Keeler Tavern (Margaret Salmore)
29. Luc's (Margaret Salmore)
28. There are great places to get married (Danny Cutting)
27. Woodcock Nature Center (Sarah Katz)
26. Ridgefield's open space (Sarah Katz)
25. Martin Park (Sarah Katz)
24. Houses with turrets (Sarah Katz) [Ed. note: :-)]
23. The high school cross country course (Sarah Katz)
22. Tigers varsity games (Sarah Katz)
21. People greet one another even though they're strangers (Sarah Katz)
20. Run Like a Mother (Sarah Katz)
19. It is possible to be showing a friend around downtown and, in the course of a block, wave or speak to about five people
18. Learning the way around in Ridgebury feels like an accomplishment deserving accolades
17. Ridgefield's teenagers are talented and creative
16. The rabbi blogs about fly fishing
15. The dark chocolate Hershey's Kisses bowl outside the office of the fire chief's administrative assistant
14. Ridgefield is close enough to New York to be a commuting suburb but far enough away that people who choose to live here do so because they love it
13. Nobody can say no to Christine Lodewick
12. It's possible to get designer jeans for $6 at Bring 'N' Buy if you hit them on a sale day...
11. ...and then walk next door for some barbecue
10. Chances are, that random Ridgefielder at the next table is an accomplished artist
9. ABC House
8. Sunrise Cottage and its residents, some of whom are integral parts of the daily workings of Town Hall
7. The two fascinating Steves who are regulars at Ross'—one is a needlepoint expert and the other is a forensic child psychiatrist
6. Yoga at The Aldrich
5. The East Ridge Middle School faculty band, and the tale that Principal Marty Fiedler will only hire new teachers who will play in it
4. Monica Brown and Sarah Bouissou first became friends because they have the same birthday.
3. Residents don't brag about their good and philanthropic deeds, they just do them
2. Neighbors help neighbors: "I suffered a serious back injury on June 23. Within 24 hours, friends and neighbors had arranged a schedule for meals to be brought to our family for the next three weeks, invited my young children for play dates thus allowing me to rest, called to see if I needed groceries, brought books by to help pass the hours..." (Kristin Briggs)
1. The people; the people make it great! (everyone who responded)