Each Monday in the Erie Times-News, a feature called "real people" appears on the City & Region page. As the explanatory note with the story says: "Each day, we report the events shaping our community. But, quietly, usually out of the limelight, memorable moments are happening to our readers every day. We explore those moments here each Monday."

Judging from the calls and mail I receive, the feature has become one of the newspaper's most popular. Today's profile by Gerry Weiss focuses on Bill Gilfry, an 80-year-old retired chemist who volunteers his time several days a week to read stories to children at local public elementary schools and at the day care center at the Dr. Gertrude Barber National Institute.

Weiss describes the reaction of the children as Gilfry strolls into Room 102 at Irving Elementary School. "It's Uncle Bill!" they shout.

"This giddy gaggle of 5-year-olds plops down on the brown carpet, crowding around Gilfry's wooden chair and staring at his every move," writes Weiss. "He's a rock star at age 80."

The feature strikes me as an example of community journalism -- an attempt by the newspaper to reach out and shine the spotlight on regular people who do good. Gilfry, for example, has been reading to kids for more than a decade.

Other individuals featured in "real people" in recent weeks include folks who make and deliver meals to shut-ins. A volunteer for the "meals on wheels" program told me in the week following that story, more than a dozen people called to ask how they could volunteer to deliver the meals.

A newspaper is many things to its readers. The Times-News, at its heart, is a communicator of the news, good and bad. Here, in real people every Monday, it's almost always good news. That can't help but make readers (and editors) smile.

-- Kevin Cuneo

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