I hope to see you at the street fair!

I’m not going to lie. I’ve been waiting more than five years for Valley Stream to have a street festival, like the one planned for this Saturday. I’ve seen or heard about similar events in Merrick, Bellmore, West Hempstead and East Rockaway, where the Herald has other papers, and was admittedly a little jealous.

In the five plus years I’ve been covering Valley Stream for the Herald, I’ve gotten to know what a special place this community is. I’ve met a lot of great people who just want a good, safe and clean place to live. A street fair is a great chance to meet even more people. After all, there are more than 50,000 people who call Valley Stream home, whether it’s the village, North Valley Stream or South Valley Stream.

Many of you know my name from reading the paper each week. I’d like to get to know many more of you. I hope you’ll stop by the Herald’s booth on Saturday and say hi. We’ll be under the big blue tent at the corner of Rockaway and Lincoln avenues.

If I’m not there — periodically I’ll be out and about, taking pictures of the fair — you can meet reporter Brian Croce, who, like me, covers many of the events that make Valley Stream unique.

And you can say hi to our advertising sales representative, Jill Kaplan, who gives local businesses a chance to promote their products and services, reaching thousands of people each week (and that doesn’t even include our 11 other Heralds). She’s another friendly face at the Herald, willing to help any merchant devise an advertising plan that works for them.

So stop by our booth. Pick up a free paper or some goodies, share a story idea with our editorial staff, find out about advertising possibilities from our sales representatives and learn more about our weekly news product.

And if you’re picking up this paper at the street fair and this is your first experience reading the Herald, we hope you’ll come back. Every week we cover the news that’s closest to you.

The top two words on the front page of each week’s edition are “Valley Stream,” even above the big blue “Herald” logo. This is the only community that matters to us, and we don’t take our responsibility lightly.

It’s great that community leaders have come together to create an event that promotes Valley Stream and all the great things it has to offer. I look forward to the day and hope you do, too. Don’t forget to stop by and say hi, and hopefully we’ll have some good weather.

I can be reached at ahackmack@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.