There are roughly 6,000 residents in the City of New Carlisle. The city’s unofficial Facebook page, “You Know You’re From New Carlisle If…” now has 5,000 members, and while not all of its followers still live in town, that number still serves as a good indicator of just how popular the page has become in recent years. While the page just passed the 5,000 member-mark last week, the group is somewhat exclusive, as members must have a direct tie to the city or local school districts in order to join.

David McWhorter and Hugh Schiller currently act as the “You Know You’re From New Carlisle If...” site administrators, working essentially to keep the peace.

“One thing I don’t allow is any profanity,” said McWhorter, who spends time checking the page each day for both interesting and inappropriate posts, deleting anything containing profanity or otherwise unsuitable material. McWhorter said he and Schiller are also somewhat strict on approving requests to join the site, as the number of members would almost be doubled if they admitted everyone who tried to join the group. He said he receives numerous requests to join from people in other countries and other languages, and noted that while they could be harmless, he wondered if they could also have some ulterior motives for trying to join.

What began as a platform for McWhorter to share historical photos and facts about New Carlisle’s past places and faces, the page now literally offers something for everyone, he said. In fact, some of the group’s regular daily postings have become the subject of good-natured public jokes among members who come to expect certain posts and comments from other members each day. A member of the group myself (yes, I feel special), I do notice the absence of certain posts, as I too have become accustomed to seeing the constant lost and found dog postings (I’m always rooting for them to return home), the compulsory “what’s going on in my neighborhood” query because a block is lit up with lights and sirens, and the endless stream of local business promotions.

McWhorter said he doesn’t mind the free advertising, instead saying that those regular posts come from regular members of the community who are just trying to earn a living like the rest of us. He said when he first took over the site from Rick Kaczmarek a few years ago, he questioned the platform’s standing as a source of catch-all free promotions, but that he came to realize the significance of supporting local businesses. Schiller and McWhorter discussed the approval of free promotion for local businesspeople, and decided to allow regular postings for area businesses last year.

“We decided it was important to promote the city,” said McWhorter.

McWhorter said the most difficult aspect in running the site for him is finding a balance in what to allow and what to block. The random negative reviews about local businesses are permitted as long as they aren’t inappropriate, and while McWhorter said he doesn’t always agree, he allows them because positive reviews are also allowed.

Schiller said he doesn’t think people truly realize how much time and maintenance are required in tending a group of more than 5,000 members, but noted that it is an important virtual gathering site for uniting people.

“I hope that is and will continue to be a source where old friends can meet and stay connected,” said Schiller.

Personally, I get a lot of ideas for stories from this site as well as personal entertainment. I absolutely love seeing the stories about people, property, and pets being reunited through the site, and the historical postings are fascinating as well. It’s like a soap opera sometimes, as some of these posts churn out hundreds and hundreds of comments as more and more members add their thoughts until a full-fledged Facebook fiasco has ensued. McWhorter and Schiller are thorough in their dedication to keeping any vulgarity removed though, as I’ve found it is rare to see anything blatantly offensive.

I don’t think anyone has come to an accepted answer for the prompt of “you know you’re from New Carlisle if…,” but one thing I do know, is that they’ll post it to the site as soon as they figure it out.