It's Our Anniversary

I'll never forget the first time I spoke to member John Beresford on the phone.

After explaining in great detail the concept behind Canton-Sixes Patch, he ended the call like this:

"Good luck with your project."

Over the last year, many of you—Beresford included—have realized that Patch is more than a "project."

You turned to Patch when:

• the now-defunct American Heritage Academy experienced one setback after another;
• the Cherokee Charter Academy saga unfolded;
• a 25-year-old Canton mother died after a violent custody exchange;
• a on Labor Day;
• two of the city's incumbent ;
• and a first-grader's severely beaten body was found in a Dumpster. The student, 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera, had been abducted, taken to a vacant apartment unit, sexually assaulted, stabbed an unknown number of times, tossed in a trash bin and compacted.

On the site, as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages, you piped up about these and many other topics.

What do you like about Canton-Sixes Patch? What do you dislike about it? Let us know in the comment box below.

Ultimately, that's why Patch was created. We wanted to spark community conversations, not muzzle them. We wanted to give you a space to interact with your neighbors. We wanted to give you a one-stop shop for all things Canton-Sixes. And we wanted the story of this area to be told in its totality.

That's why:

• we highlight most Sundays at 6 a.m.;
• we feature most Wednesdays at 2 p.m.;
• we have a free business directory, a daily virtual real estate tour and a real-time traffic and gas guide to help you with your daily commute;
• we don't mind running a list of or a video of a ;
• and we want you to sign up as Local Voices columnists or post your own announcements and events on the site.

There are so many to the site. You can comment on stories. You can like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. As of Thursday morning, Canton-Sixes Patch had 1,126 Facebook fans and 732 Twitter followers. Not bad for the new kid on the block.

Remember Beresford, the council member? Canton-Sixes Patch was only live for a few weeks when he stopped referring to it as a "project." Once, I overheard him tell some of his buddies that it was the "future."

I couldn't agree more.

If you have news, events, announcements, photos or videos that you want to share, don't wait on Canton-Sixes Patch to post it for you. Scroll to the bottom of canton-ga.patch.com, look for the "Contribute" header in the bottom right corner, click "Put an event on the calendar" or "Announce something to everyone," fill in all the fields, and your event, announcement, photos and videos will automatically go up on Patch.