History in the Telling

Last night, I attended a gathering of folks from our community at our county historical museum. My mother was invited to participate and speak in a panel discussion with five other local business persons about the history of our city. The panel members ranged in age from their early seventies to early eighties. With the exception of my mother, who moved to the community in 1955, the rest were born here. Each person spoke for around ten minutes and then fielded questions from both the moderator and the audience.

I wasn't that enthusiastic to tell the truth quite frankly, because I thought it was going to be boring. I went to show support for my mother. To my surprise and pleasure, I was absolutely wrong. It was very interesting and quite entertaining. I learned quite a bit about the early years when our city had a population of around one-thousand people. It is now closer to sixty-thousand.

There were subjects discussed about everything from the first newspaper in town to the flood of 1948. I learned things about the area I live in, even my own neighborhood. I viewed a lot of turn-of-the-century photos of the area and made mental comparisons to the present state of the city's landscape. I'm almost fifty, and there were things I had forgotten about. The local semi-pro baseball field where my dad took me to my first game, (now a strip mall and some fast-food places) the drive-in theatre, (now a strip mall and restaurants) and many, many other similar things.

There were so many interesting things that were discussed. The way that business agreements used to be sealed with a simple handshake, and how the agreements held, the way everyone new everyone else on the street, and how folks weren't concerned about leaving their doors unlocked. One audience member recalled how as a teenager he had a job delivering things using a local doctor's ambulance, and how he would take the long way home and turn on the lights and siren just to be able to drive at excessive speeds.

As children who grew up here these business folks had such a unique perspective on things. They all lived through the depression era, and they all learned to work hard and have real down-to-earth ingenuity. They all experienced a world war. All of them knew each other and have for many decades, some even from childhood. I had an opportunity to speak with a few folks afterwards. It was truly a rewarding experience. I only wish I could relate it all here.