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Couldn't Ask for a Better Launch Into the Working World Than Merritt Books
To the Editor:
I was very sad to hear the news that the Merritt Bookstore is closing its doors. The bookstore was my first job and imagining Main Street without it is hard to believe. I began working there in May of 2005, the end of my freshman year at Haldane, my first year at a new school after nine long years at Garrison.
Working at the bookstore allowed me to become more acquainted with a town where I was going to be spending my next four years. It allowed me to spend quality time in town rather than just grabbing a slice of pizza, I really got to know a lot of Cold Springers.
I remember how nervous I was, with Kira Culotta at my side, when I went into the bookstore to meet Scott Meyer for my interview. He began the conversation talking to me about soccer and when he told me I was hired, I was thrilled to get started. The summer was wonderful working there three days a week. But when the school year rolled around my hectic schedule got in the way and I was forced to work just one day a week, Sundays. I would often spend the entire Sunday there by myself, opening and closing the store. I remember how proud I was to call Sunday my day and it taught me a great deal about responsibility.
The bookstore's tranquil setting that I enjoyed on Sundays was short lived, by the afternoon tourists visiting Cold Spring for the day were pervasive on the streets. So I ask myself, where are those people now? The people that were so eager to purchase a new bestseller or children's story. It is a shame that with all of the loyal customers and familiar faces the bookstore could not stay alive.
The Merritt Bookstore was there when I began high school and it is funny that it is saying goodbye now, just as I am to Cold Spring in a few months. The memories I have at the bookstore will never be forgotten. Eileen, the heart and soul of the bookstore, between the Harry Potter parties and various toddler play-groups, is the reason it thrived for the time was there.
In the winter of my junior year my schedule got too full to work, but I was happy to know that with my brother now a member of the Merritt Bookstore team I would still be able to visit and spend some quality time amongst its shelves. couldn't have asked for a better launch into the working world. Once again it is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to this treasure.
Emily Marsh
Garrison
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