To the Editor:

This December 14, Newtown will observe the tenth year following the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, and our community will set an example of how we are overcoming it.

The aftermath of the senseless shooting created a fork in the road. One path is following an endless trail of negativity and despair. The other is one of enlightened opportunity for compassion, commitment, and charity.

Newtown residents choose the latter.

Sandy Hook Promise, the CMAK Foundation, and the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary are just a few of the ways positivity and dedication are overcoming death and despair.

That’s Newtown.

Of course all the national media outlets will spend a great majority of time reporting on the massacre and the individual who caused it. But shouldn’t they be focusing on the wonderful woman serving bagels, the new owner of the Dodgingtown Market, or the great first selectmen we’ve had over the past 10 years?

Will they mention the passing of the Town & Country Garden Club member who created the Christmas luminaria? Or the Sandy Hook Fire Chief who served the community for 57 years — 44 as chief?

Instead of highlighting lowlifes like the shooter or Alex Jones, maybe we should celebrate the great residents of Newtown and Sandy Hook, past and present.

John Doern

Newtown