I Was Thinking... Small Towns

If you happened to grow up on the East or West Coast of the U.S., much of the rest of the country is considered “fly over land” by those living in those heavily populated areas. They may recognize urban areas like Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Minneapolis, and maybe even Kansas City or Denver.
But much of the rest of the area is considered the “hinterland” or the middle of nowhere. If you don’t happen to live along one of the major freeways that crisscross the country, you are considered to be in the boondocks or in the hicks. But even Minnesota has a distinction between large urban areas and the rest of Minnesota.
The Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs are considered the Metropolitan area and the rest of us are sometimes given names like “outstate” or the Greater Minnesota area. Only Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Rochester have over 100,000 people.
Minnesota has 854 cities of record and only 103 of them have populations of 10,000 or more. Except for Rochester, none of them are in Olmsted or Dodge counties. So, most of the people who will read this column live in what would be considered a “small town.”
New York has Broadway and Times Square. Chicago has Michigan Avenue and the Lakeshore Drive. Los Angles has Hollywood and Rodeo Drive. They all have professional sports, museums, concert halls, and all kinds of shopping. Those that live in the bigger cities often wonder why anyone would choose to live in one of these little burghs. But they don’t know what these small towns have to offer.
The center of a small town is the school. If you live in Byron, you are a Bear, in the K-M area you’re a KoMet, and those in Dodge Center, West Concord or Claremont are Cobras. Many people in these communities also have the appropriately colored attire in their closets and feel an identity with the sports teams. When one of their teams make it to a state competition the whole town turns out. Small town residents still talk about the time when Edgerton became the smallest school to ever win the state basketball tournament in 1960.
Another thing that binds many of the communities together is their local celebration.Almost every small town has an annual community event. Good Neighbor Days, Festival in the Park, Marigold Days, or Cheese Fest are supported by individuals, civic groups and businesses. Even little Viola has Gopher Count Days, the oldest continuous community celebration in the state.
Everyone knows what weekend of the year their celebration occurs and makes sure not to make any other commitments for that time.
Small towns may not have all the attractions the Metro areas have, but almost all of them can boast of having something unique in their communities.
Kasson has the only stone water tower in the state. They also host the oldest county fair. Mantorville brags about the oldest county courthouse in Minnesota.
Even Wasioja is proud to be the location of the only Civil War Recruiting Station left in Minnesota. Dodge Center is the acknowledged home of a business that is ranked #1 in the production of trash compactor trucks.
My wife’s hometown of Litchfield has the last GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) building, and the nearby town of Darwin is home to the state’s largest twine ball. Even Pequot Lakes is known for its water tower painted like a fishing bobber.
But what keeps many people living in these small towns is the feeling of belonging. If you go to the store, out to eat, or go to get your hair done, you are likely to see somebody you know. You probably will also be recognized or even be called by name at your bank, the grocery store, at the dentist office or at the local coffee shop.
Those that live in large cities might feel small towns don’t offer everything they have available, but to me, we have something they will never have, we have community.
Did You Ever Wonder? — How many rats are there in a pack of pack rats?