Howdy! Well, I’d love to tell you I was from Montana (my husband is). But, the truth is that I grew up in a small town (then about 2000 people) in mid to southern Illinois. In Illinois, anything south of Chicago was considered southern Illinois.
This picture was snapped when I was about 3 or 4 years old. I grew up with lots of cats around me and the house you see behind me was our most favorite place to play in all the neighborhood, Herbert and Barbara Brookbower’s wonderful yard. My memory of the house was a big tree out front (one can barely see it in the photograph) and lots of bushes and shrubs to hide behind when playing hide and seek. My friends and I spent many a summer afternoon in that tree.
This beautiful image is of the Park in my home town, Newton, Illinois. Gosh, I have so many memories of Church picnics in this park. The swimming pool was situated in the park and was new when I was about 11 or 12 years old and a friend of mine and I would ride our bikes across town to that pool — we went everyday that summer when the pool was open. I remember having a glorious tan.
Now, if one were to go about a 1/2 mile down the road and across the Embarras Bridge (pronounced Em-bra) from the park, we’d come to one my very best friend’s farm…not that she or her family lived there, they lived in town 2 houses away from me. But, it was on her farm where I had my first taste of spring water — refreshing. It was also where my friend, Becky, and I rode horses and once a horse almost bucked me — but I stayed on. I remember picking strawberries, climbing through the barn and an Indian mound that was on their property.
This is An old bridge over the Embarass River. This bridge used to scare me as a kid, but it was necessary to cross it if one wished to go to places like Greenup, Illinois or to Robinson, Illinois.
I left my hometown when I was eighteen to head to the big city of Chicago, and shortly after that to go to Los Angeles, where I lived for many years. But, there were several things I took away from growing up in a small town: one of them being friendships that have endured all these years, despite distances and despite rarely seeing one another. And, because this was a farming community, I learned to love those who were connected to the land.
To the left here is a picture of a booksigning I did in my hometown’s library (a place where I spent many Saturdays) in 2001. The picture is taken with several friends. The woman at the far left of the picture is Chrissy, my best friend. To this day we remain very close, despite the distance between us. And so my hometown hoedown is really about friendship and love.
Now, I’d love to hear about your own hometown hoedown, so come on in and leave a post. I will do a drawing from all of you who leave a post for my newest ebook, SHE BELONGS IN MY WORLD. So, please come on in and leave a post.
Sounds like a wonderful place to grow up.
I live in Maryland, but I grew up near Newark, Delaware, home to the University of Delaware. Because I was several miles outside of town proper, the closest big thing at the time was Delaware Park, the horse racing track. Early in the morning, it was quiet enough to hear the echoing voices of them training horses at the park. In my teen years, we had Christiana Mall–still thriving with its close access to Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and tax-free shopping! A hospital replaced the dairy farm across from my neighborhood. And when they were turning the two-land road into a four-lane road, the unopened half was used for Hand Across America when we all sang “We Are the World.”
Hi Denise!
I loved your post today. What a beautiful world that must have been to grow up in. And, isn’t that something about the Hand Across America. Loved it!
grew up in a small town with a lot of farming. It’s not so small anymore. lol Whitehouse, suburb of Toledo Ohio, has had a ton of housing developments go in over the last 30 years. There is still a faming community but also a lot of families actually in the town proper now.
My memories include my 2 sisters and 1 brother. He’s the youngest so was spoiled rotten. lol We had sheep that we bred and took to the county fair. We also added piglets, bought, but we raised them for the fair as well. We had many dogs over the years and even bred Lassa. Those pups were so adorable. There were cats, a bird and also many hamsters. We played in the wooded area out in the “back 40”. We lived on 6 acres. When we were older, we were allowed to ride our bikes to town, a mile or so, to meet up with friends.
I am now living across the river in another community, Perrysburg Ohio. I have bounced all around this area my entire life (50+ years).
Hi Carrie!
What a way to grow up — on 6 acres of land and lots of room to explore. I love all the pets you had growing up. Oh, my goodness! i forgot about 4H and the state fair. I remember the butterscroth brownies we made for the 4H and the fair was fun every year it came. Thank you so much for sharing this. : )
small town, friendly people
Howdy!
Yeah, me too! : )
I grew up 1 mile into Ohio from Michigan in a town with about 1000 people. Everyone said hello when you passed them on the street and everyone knew our dog’s name. Everyone watched out for their neighbors.
Hi Karijean!
Ah, so you’re a small town girl, too. Yes, everybody knows everybody else and of course one always said “hello.” I’m sure it’s the same, even to this day. : )
Hey Karen! I grew up on a farm near a small town, Live Oak, FL. I’ve mentioned a few times I have two younger brothers and we played all over the farm. We loved riding our bikes. We worked planting vegetables, picking and storing them. As I started to school, I had friends. One was in first and second grade we were in classes to get her. She moved away but around 15 years ago she contacted me and we share our family stories. But, me true friend was Wendy. She and I stayed close friends from 4th grade until we graduated and married. She and her husband moved away to Fernadina Beach and raised two children. She moved back a few years ago when she and her husband retired and we pretty much messaged each other everyday and we try to get together once a year. But, it’s hard. I have my mother to take care of and she sees her grandchildren in Jacksonville. And they travel. But, we have maintained that friendship and picked right back up so easy! Childhood friends are long lasting friendships! For sure!
Thanks for sharing your hometown stories Karen! Best wishes always!
Hi Tracy!
Gosh, that sounds lovely. Yes, it’s funny that when you see the person again, it’s almost as though all those years hadn’t happened. And you pick right back up. Love the story. A farm in Florida. Must’ve been wonderful. When I was little, we had a farm in back of our yard (we were on the edge of town) and I still remember the cows and gretting them each day. Thanks Tracy for letting me know about your hometown, too.
Good afternoon Karen, I grew up in a very small town in NM, my dad built that house. we used to live in the city where I was born. We moved to NM when I was 5 years old. Our house was the 2nd house built there. So as people started building we got to know them. There was no church for awhile so my parents would go pick up a Priest from a little town near by on Sundays and we would hold church on our carport. My parents also had a lady and a man come to our house and we would have Catechism there in our garage. Our parents and our neighbors would hold bazaars to make money to build a church, so they started building a church. My 3 older brothers and my sister and I who are a year apart plush other kiddos made our First Holy Communion on our carport , it was so special. My youngest sister is 7 years younger than I so she got to make her First Holy Communion at the Church that was built. Such veery special and great memories from living in that small town. Now days that small town I lived in has grown so much! One of my brothers bought the house that my dad built from my parents when they moved into a smaller house. Thank you for sharing your story. Have a great day and a great rest of the week. (not entering this ebook giveaway as I am not tech savvy, but Thank you. )
Hi Alicia!
I loved your story. A real American story filled with building your own home and eventually a church as well as having Catechism in your garage. What a wonderful childhood to have experienced all that. And, New Mexico is quite pretty. When I lived in California, I made several trips across country to Florida and I still remember the beauty of New Mexico. Thank you Alicia for sharing your story with me. Have a super rest of the week!
I grew up on a dairy farm near an unincorporated community about five miles from the nearest village of about 3,000 population. Our school was in the village but our community has a church that was the center of community activity. Like so many other communities we kids rode our bikes to the neighbors’ houses for hours of playtime. In November our youth group gathered greens and made wreaths , swags, and Yule log candle holders to sell and raise funds. The church put on a chicken BBQ every summer that drew lots of people from the larger towns around us. We kids were in charge of keeping the plates of sliced tomatoes, celery, peppers and other condiments on the tables. Of course we helped clean up, too. It seemed more like fun than work to us. The tables were set up outdoors. Later years the church members made apple pies to sell and one local restaurant even featured them. Sadly, with many new houses being built and fewer people attending church the community is losing the sense of identity we once had. With new roads including an interstate it is easier for people to travel instead of staying close to home.
Don’t enter me in the drawing. I’m not an e-book reader.
Hi Alice!
What a wonderful way to grow up. My community was similar in that it was very closely knit. It’s a shame that these small communities are losing their once wonderful sense of belonging. Thanks for sharing and thanks for the memories you gave me from simply reading your story.
I had a nice long post the other day, but for some reason, it wouldn’t post. Thanks for the stroll down your memory lane and the trip it sent me down mine.