Happy Second Birthday Port Washington Patch!

Two years ago today, Port Washington Patch launched.

I stepped up as editor of the site . As a member of the community, I find it a privilege to cover the schools, businesses, government and nonprofits that make Port Washington tick.

Port Washington, with all its diversity, both ethnically and economically, works. From the caring teachers in the classroom to the police force and firefighters protecting this community, Port, with its beautiful waterfront, has heart. Sure, there are struggles, such as the empty storefronts in town. But for every struggle, there are those eager to come up with solutions, and Patch is ready to learn more. 

In the year since we launched, we've published more than 3,660 articles, in addition to a section of blog posts, a full calendar of events and roundup of local announcements.

In celebration of the site's birthday, here are ways to make Patch a resource every day:

Sign up for Newsletters: Get Port Washington-specific news delivered right to your inbox every morning or once a week. The site is updated multiple times each day, so news is always fresh.

Post Events to the Calendar: Get the word out about your events by adding them to the calendar. Or use the calendar to browse what's going on around town.

Become a Blogger: Port Washington experts in their fields blog regularly on the site. Have a subject area of expertise? Email adina@patch.com to become a local voice on the site.

Rate Local Places in the Directory: The Places tab of the site features every business, school and organization in town. Peruse the section to find phone numbers, addresses, hours or to rate your experience there.

Track Traffic Jams and Gas Prices: This newly-added tab features a live traffic map of how traffic is flowing in and around Port Washington. There's also a live listing of the least expensive gas available in the area.

Make Announcements: Need volunteers? Recently get married? Lose a pet? Post it in our announcements section so the community knows.  

Add Photos to the Community Gallery: We're always taking photos around Port Washington at events, but we want to see your best shots too. Add them to this gallery so your neighbors can see. You can also add photos to articles by clicking "Upload" near the photos we've featured.

 We love discussion and smart debate, and our articles are a great place for the community to do so about meetings you may have missed, new initiatives, school accomplishments, vacant properties and more.

Follow us on Social Media: We tweet all day long @PortPatch and have more than 940 likes on our Facebook page. Make sure to follow us on those platforms.

Port Washington Patch would not be possible without the guidance of Regional Editor Jason Molinet, Associate Regional Editor Pam Robinson, Senior Regional Editor David Reich-Hale and the work of Advertising Manager Diana Reidy, Calendar Editor Cindy Springsteen and all of our contributors.