A mom slowly loses grip of her impatient kindergartner in one hand while hats, gloves, and coats are piled in her other hand. The line is long and little Susie’s patience is short. Little Susie knows that If a kid can step off the line just a little and stretch to the tops of her tippy toes, she might be able to get a glimpse of the guests of honor.
The bar had closed for the night and the employees are finally sitting down for a break. The ideas that come after the bar closes aren’t the ones we expect to be great. But Sonja had a great idea. And it would turn into a 7-year (and going) tradition of serving the southern Holt County, MO community.
Take a look at some of the pages in the photo above from a local newspaper out of Mound City, MO. They cover all the local towns, including our town of Oregon, MO. In two pages, you can see all those values that small towns cling to. The importance of family, history, faith, giving, and civic duty are all covered here. There are fundraisers, free lunches, anniversary announcements, local church info and history from decades ago.
Something very special happens on the courtyard in Oregon, MO every 2nd and 4th Thursday. Everyone in the community is invited, but usually a handful or less make their way to the gazebo at 12:30pm. Community member, Theresa Mackey, saw the need for the meetings back in March of 2021. Our community and the world was in the midst of the Covid pandemic and felt division and isolation.
Both Christmas Around The Square and the Christmas music have become traditions that I look forward to every year. I will tell you more about Christmas Around the Square in a later blog post. It is amazing. But, there are many traditions here, big and small. Traditions are both new and old, with some repeated for decades.
It’s harvest season! We all know what harvest is. And we may even have the word “Harvest” in our fall home decor. But what does harvest mean to a small town?
Harvest happens during the fall months, anywhere from mid September into November. Many small town residents are not farmers. But we do know a few. And we know when it’s harvest time.
One of my favorite things about small town life is a small town restaurant. Undoubtedly, I know many city dwellers who will travel a long way, down a curvy blacktop road, in the middle of nowhere to get to a small town cafe. The reason? The food and the atmosphere of these little places can not be beat.
Everyone can agree that we don’t want the fair to go away. We want our grandkids’ grandkids to feel the same excitement we do! We also don’t want kids sports, the town events, the pretty flowers, parks, etc to go away. Everyone has to pitch in. Many hands make light work.
Hector Sabates called his puppet show, “The Smallest Show on Earth”. But it sure didn’t feel like the smallest show on Earth! People, young and old, gathered inside the barn behind the Holt County Museum.
One of the greatest things about living in a small town is that city blocks don’t run very far. Which means, it doesn’t take much driving to be out in the country. And out in the country is exactly where you want to be to witness the best sunsets.