I’ve know Gardiner Bacon and his family for 10-12 years or so. So when I heard that Mr. Bacon, a Newburyport High School senior, was running for mayor of Newburyport, MA, I thought, “Well, that actually makes sense.”

I remember reading a Letter to the Editor in the Newburyport Daily News (which for the life of me, I cannot find) by Gardiner Bacon, and thinking, “Darn, that’s good. Too bad everyone, young, old and in between couldn’t write Letters to the Editor like that!”

And from what I know of Mr. Bacon, he is amazingly bright and amazingly articulate. And, it would be my guess that Mr. Bacon could run rings around most people “older” than he is.

This is no practical joke, no “fly by night” whim on Gardiner Bacon’s part. This is serious folks.

And as we wring our hands (me very much included) over the predicament of our schools, let’s not forget that this is a Newburyport High School senior who has decided to run for mayor of Newburyport, MA.

A Newburyport High School senior that got into Antioch College. Not exactly a slouchy place, or for that matter, a bastion of conservative thinking.

The very little I know about Antioch College, they might even give Mr. Bacon Political Science college credit for running for mayor. And well they should. Talk about “life experience.”

And from my brief “chat” with Mr. Bacon, it appears that it is possible that Antioch College might well defer his enrollment. Whew.

And in Newburyport, MA, anything, anything is possible. So, folks, hang on to your hats. This political season has just put a wide-eyed grin on this blogger’s face.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport