A new Facebook page connecting people with an interest in the Oxford area is earning very positive reviews.

According to Bruce Mowday, Jr., one of the administrators of the Facebook page, the “O-Town Speak Up New & Improved Message Board” is a grass-roots effort at establishing a local message board that embraces community pride.

The message board aims at connecting people—to each other and to their community. In this case, the Oxford community includes not just Oxford Borough and the surrounding townships in Nottingham and Lower Oxford, but also the communities of West Grove, Cochranville, New London, Elk, Quarryville, Little Britain, and even Rising Sun, Md.

The page has already garnered a large number of followers with posts about everything from current happenings to historical photos of the area. The administrators are very pleased that there is a rapidly growing online community of people sharing their love of Oxford.

“We have a diverse network of friends, family, neighbors, colleagues and friends in our community,” Mowday wrote in an email about the page. He said that he wants the page to be a “place to share community pride, past, present or future.”

People can post about community programs, non-profit fundraising events, volunteer opportunities, business reviews, or community alerts. The page can also be a used to make people aware of lost pets in the area. Employers and potential employees can connect on the page. It can also be a place to stay informed about local government happenings and local news.

According to Mowday, the administrators also want the page to be a place where people can make friends and share historical pictures about the area. They want people to share their stories about Oxford, too.

In addition to Mowday, the administrators are Dave McGowan, Zoe Walsh, Philip Berkowich, and Melissa Devine.

There is a very purposeful and definite focus on positivity for the page—the administrators do not want the page to devolve into just another online place for people to complain and hurl insults at each other.

Geoff Henry, the mayor of Oxford Borough, is an enthusiastic fan of the page. He lauded the efforts of the local residents who wanted to establish a page that is free of the hatred and hostility that have consumed other online message boards.

“It’s been a wonderful page so far,” Henry said. “It’s a page dedicated to positive activity, and I congratulate them on setting up a Facebook page that is positive in nature. They’ve done a great job. This kind of page is very much needed.”

Mowday said that the page will bring together people who are passionate about the community and its people.

“We hope that [people] make new friends, find old friends and leave with a sense of pride of community,” he wrote.