Small Town Feeling

Not everyone enjoys living in a small town. Admittedly, there are both good and bad things to deal with when it's a smaller population. I prefer the slow moving tractor traffic verses the bumper to bumper gridlock of a larger area.

I truly enjoy that "small town feel". Honestly, it is a small town. Last census says the population of the entire county is less than 13,000 people. The population of the biggest city was less than 2,500 people. So it's not that hard to get that feeling. We have two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. Even with the small size, we got a lot going on around here.

We have two grocery stores, three when we first moved here about 12 years ago. There is definitely plenty of choices for services on Sunday when there are more than 10 churches in the area. On the road that we live on, there are three (a Baptist, Mormon, and Catholic). Speaking of churches...

We have one liquor store. Until 2016, our county was "dry". There was a countywide vote for alcohol sales in January of 2016, but the majority of voters voted "no". People were not happy about that so in September of 2016 there was a second vote for residents of the towns of Morgantown, Woodbury, and Rochester. That one worked. It was the first vote held for the selling of alcohol since 1945. No, I'm not kidding.

Lots of places to eat too. We have several locally owned restaurants (two Mexican places, two home-cooking (catfish on Friday nights type), two pizza places, Rebecca's on Main is a sandwich shop, and a Chinese buffet). Then, of course, we have the chains McDonald's, Hardees, and Subway.

Jeez... when I write it all down, it looks like we do a lot of eating.

We have small town festivals, the county fair is kind of a big deal, and during late Spring and the Summer months, Music at the Mural on Friday nights. Just a little sitting around in fold up chairs listening to local musicians play. Y'all, we even have an art guild that hosts a chalk art street festival every year.

Oooo... I almost forgot! We have a local radio station too! It was an AM only station until 2014 when they went live as a FM station too! In addition to music, they broadcast local interviews, stories, and live broadcasts from sports like football and basketball.

Not everyone enjoys living in a small town. You have to appreciate those small town feelings and slow moving traffic.

when the sun goes down
another day gone
my little town
the lights come on

one here one there
another up the way
stories we share
waiting for the day

sweet seasons
come and go
rendering reasons
to take it slow

--ERNEST CLARY