A note on privacy: We do not disclose details about our guests or their events without permission. Private celebrations are described only in general terms, and names and photos appear only when a guest has said yes.

In the span of twelve days this fall, this room hosted a meet and greet for Jamie Ager, a town hall for Jennifer Balkcom, and a local candidates' forum put on by the Democrats.

Same room. Same tables. Both sides of the aisle.

People ask us sometimes how we play it, hosting events for candidates who'd disagree with each other about near everything. The answer is simple: we're the room. Our job is chairs in rows, a microphone that works, coffee that's hot, and a door that's open to the whole town. Murphy is a small place. The same people who sit at these tables on a Tuesday are at the ball counter across the street on Wednesday.

It helps that this building has always been a civic room. It opened in 1950 as the post office — back when that made it the most public building in town. Seventy-six years later, in a way, it still is.

If your group needs a neutral room in the middle of town — a forum, a meeting, a meet and greet — this is what the room is for. Whoever's name is on the flyer, the room is Murphy's. That's the whole policy.