From the editor’s chair, June 20, 2012

I’ve heard the ‘concrete jungle’ and ‘carbuncle’ tags before - and, to be fair, the more positive community pride award detail, too - but titles don’t give you a true flavour of a town.

But only by being in the crowd as the London 2012 torch was toured through the town could I truly get a feel for the place.

And with 6000 flag-waving, smiling and cheering people turned out to applaud a bunch of non locals showcasing an event taking place more than 500 miles away, Cumbernauld’s community voice was the loudest of them all.

I missed out on the Kilsyth Civic Week events and C in the Park, though I’m told both were a huge success.

But the sheer numbers turning up show a strength of community spirit that is admirable and one we should all embrace.

Community spirit is what our new contest, Talk of the Town, is all about. From next week we’ll be asking readers to nominate and vote in a series of ‘best of’ categories.

This fun summer contest is a light-hearted chance to let local businesses shine, and their regular users support them. Full details next week.