Monday, June 21, 2004

Small town American life

One of my habits on this trip is to pick up the local newspaper of the places I stop to visit and the places where I stop to eat. I have always found the local news and personal stories in newspapers fascinating. Perhaps that is why I always read the local section (the B pages) of the SF Chronicle first? Small communities are vibrant and dynamic places, even though it doesn't look like it on the outside. The facade may be one of sleepy main streets, but just as the case is everywhere, there is lots going on beneath the surface. I know that it is true for me, and perhaps many of us big city dwellers, that I carry a stereotype of small towns being boring or uninteresting. They are interesting in different ways, but also very much the same as large metro areas.

I have two papers with me at the moment, that I have kept in my travels, the Sterling, CO Journal-Advocate and the Genoa, NE Leader-Times. In it there are stories about high-school reunions and taxes to pay for new hospital services. But in both papers there is a story which has the theme of essentially, "how can we remain a vibrant community both economically and culturally?" Isn't that a question for all communities, large and small?

Lastly, I want to share with you an advertisement I saw in the Genoa paper"

Come to a Hometown Tasty
And Buy a chance on a
$1.00 Raffle to win a non confinement, non medicated, butcher hog

We will haul to locker,
winner pays own processing bill
Drawing held on the 4th of July


That's a lot of bacon!

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