BFF #140
One block long with 2 grocery stores, one drug store complete with fountain, a hardware, a bar, gas station, barber shop, post office, fire hall and an antique store. I think that was it. It isn't like this now, but back in the sixties when I was growing up, it was just about perfect. All businesses were family owned except the fire hall and post office. I knew all the families and they knew me. How cool would that be now?
I still live in a small city, but I don't know anyone when I sit in the local restaurant for a meal. We are always amazed how many people we don't know. It isn't because people aren't friendly it's because people are always moving from town to town, state to state. The people who were here when I raised kids and they raised theirs have moved on in great numbers. There are some and I still see some now and then, but not as many as you might think since we've lived here since 1977.
Once in a while I drive over the 7 miles to the town I call my hometown, although I wasn't born there, I was raised there. It has changed a great deal and it remains the same in ways. It's downtown is still only a block long. It still has a grocery, post office, but the town hall has replaced the fire hall which has been moved into a large new location a couple blocks away. The drug store is gone. I am not sure what is in that location now, but at one time a pizza business was there, could still be, I don't know. The bar is still there and still very much the center of action for the village. The homes still look well cared for and many, many new ones have been built on the outskirts of town. The appeal of the tiny town USA apparently still exists. The 'downtown' area still looks good. Not falling down in decay, but not bustling as in my childhood days.
The friends I made then, many of them, are still friends I carry in my heart today.
If you'd like to see a little bit of this tiny town, follow the link to Village of Gaines.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Village-of-Gaines/100517140008645
A shot during one of the 'festival' type events...obviously a car show!
That's were I grew up, or as 'up' as I plan to grow~
Jo
That (in a nut shell) is prety much the story of the Gaines I remember..I am proud to see at least 7 people still think there tractor is a car. Was the picture taken from the 4th floor of the casino at the end of the street?
ReplyDeleteGood job Jo Doil
I think that most of us will always have a special place in our hearts for the place where we grew up. My hometown was a suburb, but back then, it still had a pretty rural feel. It's grown enormously since I lived there and while I suppose a lot of what's come to town might be called 'progress,' it's no longer a place I'd want to live.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see that your hometown seems to have better maintained a small town feel, even if it's not the place you remember.
Nicely done Jo. Don't want to move back there, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
ReplyDeleteVelda
Doil, There's a casino in Gaines? Thanks for stopping and commenting.
ReplyDeleteBeth...Thanks and yeah, it is still a very tiny town and very much small town USA. I'm glad it hasn't changed too, but I don't want to live there now. Just go see it now and then.
Velda, Thank you. Me either on both counts.
WOW! I thought my hometown was small, but you are clearly the winner of the small town award! LOL
ReplyDeleteDarlene...It is very small! I still live only 7 miles from there, I think. Never actually measured the mileage, just guessing. It's just a cute little town. It has, like most hometowns, a ton of memories and one day, I might just expound on a few of those. :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like your hometown was quite the place. It is a pity that time changes hometowns. Thanks for the brilliant tour!!
ReplyDeleteKathy
http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com/
What a sweet little town! It reminds me of a town near Salinas, California called Spreckles.
ReplyDeleteEvery small town has its car show on a given day of the week! Thanks for sharing!
Kathy...Thanks and I do still have very warm feelings when I drive through.
ReplyDeleteLinda...And did you notice the tractors? ha ha ha