Introducing a New Series About the Changing American Dream in Chesterfield

When I wrote a goodbye of sorts to all the good people of Sunset Hills and Crestwood as I moved over to Chesterfield Patch on Aug. 3, key to my message was that while editors were changing seats, Patch was ever there as a community forum for residents to communicate, grow and share their lives.

Chesterfield and other cities are part of a Patch network of nearly 900 websites throughout the nation. I reminded local users that Patch would continue to be a way for residents to keep connected in this age of online technology. (Anyone remember when it was "the information superhighway" in the 1990s?)

So this is how Patch users, Chesterfield Patch users in particular, may participate in the wider community. We have the opportunity to chronicle the changing America—its lives and dreams—through your stories in what we are labeling DISPATCHES.

We Patch users, contributors, and readers are living a period of history in which we can share and describe our lives with a heightened degree of accuracy, detail and pathos through words, photos and video—and whatever else we discover can be shared online.

With this in mind, Patch is looking to share the human stories—be it tragic or good, routine or sublime. As the inhabitants of America, our stories will likely represent the American Dream. It's a thing of beauty to share.

So periodically, we will chronicle the changing America and its people's dreams, but not only on Chesterfield Patch. Some of these stories, photos, videos may move onto the Huffington Post website as it seeks to illustrate on a national level how we Americans are grappling (or not) with life/the dream throughout these United States.

Remember Joe-the-Plumber during the 2008 presidential campaign? We'll offer up You-the-Chesterfielder on Patch.

We hope you will come to us, as much as we hope to discover you. I look forward to sharing the journey and dream with you all.

Chesterfield Patch Editor Jean Whitney
jean.whitney@patch.com