LIFESTYLE F8 Sunday Herald-Times, November 19, 1995 Small towns hold unique charm Now Is The Time To Bey Lowest Prices ol The Year PlistoTeras Fort Ritner is small and getting smaller HEATING SERVICES INC. Set a head start on the cold weather with a Furnace .4 Clean Check; Aik MM Mr twin frtfmtirtl Serving your heating and AC Heating, Air Conditioning, Installation and Repair 3 AMERICAN STANDARD Built To A Higher Standard Small towns from FI near Indianapolis, others are true small towns, old communities tucked away in hollows or perched along rivers and rail lines. "The pace of population changes in these fast growing cities and towns is astounding, said Susan Brudvig, research demographer at the center who helped assess growth in both cities and incorporated towns. Of the 10 fastest growing towns, nine have populations of 700 to 3,000. "Its big growth in small places," said Brudvig.
Just a few years ago, demographers were predicting the end of small towns as populations ebbed and people moved to be near high paying jobs. And many small towns suffer from low tax base and few improvements as young wage earners flee the area. But others are welcoming new residents, albeit in small numbers, as well as keeping home town folks in the area who are willing to commute to another city for jobs. Whatever their reasons, people are putting down and keeping their roots in small towns. Until April 1,1996 Many used mowers others appliances available Scotty'S 332-3775 trucks, vans, jeeps automobiles.
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But cars do. "We get tourists and people researching their roots coming through town, said Hudson. "Last week, we had people from Alaska and just a couple of days ago, people from Europe." For Root and Hudson, living in a small town never has been stagnating. And as for that reputation small towns have for looking at life under a community microscope, they say nosy neighbors can be found anywhere. "I grew up in a housing addition and it was the same thing," said Shelia Hudson.
Theres just more space here, but other than that, life isnt that much different from any other neighborhood. Stinesville Both Baynes grew up in small towns, but Pam Bayne said she started looking at small town life differently when time came for Bill to start school. At first, I said, We have to move. I didnt want him going to hick schools, she said. "But I checked out Stinesville Elementary and discovered what it offered was as good or better than others in big communities.
Smaller classes meant more attention for each student I even worked as an aide at the school and became familiar with all it offers." Even though theyve lived there 20 years now, the Baynes still feel they havent lived in Stinesville long enough to be thought of as locals. "Its different with Bill, though, said Tim Bayne. "He was bom here and hes a true Quarry Lad. is accessible Area Veterans Group last year and it already has 70 members, has sponsored programs in the school and plans to erect a monument honoring area veterans. When Peggy Jones travels to her nursing home job and Lynn Fleet-wood drives to Ford in Bedford, they may pass Judy Taylor on the road.
Taylor is so enamored of Hel-tonvilles small town ways that she opts to work at Faubion's store instead of a job closer to home. Its so much fun to work here, its worth the drive, she said. The stores shelves offer everything from hardware to thread to bread, and just about any time of day, locals on their way to and from work and school stop for a few things "Its also the place to find out what's going on, said Randal Fleet-wood. When someone is organizing an event, you just put a sign up sheet on the bulletin board at the store. People will sign up.
Stinesville from FI and take, though they say they travel easily from small town to big city life. "We take vacations to all sorts of places, think nothing of driving to attend events in Chicago or Indianapolis, and love to take in the cultural activities that Indiana University offers, said Tim Bayne, who works for IU. But on the other hand, they like the fact that the family dog, Fes-tus, is safe wandering through town, sometimes popping into a neighbors open door to cadge at treat. And this may be the only town where we have fireworks right in the middle of the street on the Fourth of July, said Bill Bayne, a freshman at Edgewood High School. On the threshold of a teenagers busy social life, he perhaps is a little less thrilled about small town life than his parents are.
PERSONALIZED CALENDARS Create a calendar using your own personal photos. Makes the perfect gift. 325 South Walnut Street way on the school bus that takes her to Bedford North Lawrence High School. Growing up, my two older sons didnt get to go to town all the time until they could drive themselves and even then it was limited, said Hudson. "Besides, I think there's more to do in the country: hiking, fishing, camping, riding motorcycles." The responsibility of store keeper, post master and keeper of the community flame has been passed along for years and once was the domain of James Callaway during the Depressioa His daughter, Liberty Root, has worked hard to preserve the heritage of Fort Ritner, as well as its small town flavor.
"When my father had the store in the 1930s, I was attending Tunnelton High School and we lived in town," said Root, who moved to Bedford recently to be nearer to health care. "The train stopped at each little town on the line and people would ride up and down, visiting and shopping." After a successful reunion of her generation of Fort Rimer natives, the heart of Towns must maintain insurance and fire protection, for instance, to remain incorporated, and these things require a tax base. Any size town experiences some kind of crime, too, even a Mayberry- "We have had some spray painting and graffiti, said Pam Bayne. "But overall, I feel safe walking down to the store at midnight, in my pajamas, to get a co*ke out of the machine on the porch. But keeping anything quiet is hard.
Pam Bayne had cancer several years ago and tried to keep her predicament private, but soon casseroles were showing up on her doorstep and neighbors were offering rides to doctors appointments. "I had a second occurrence of the disease and knew I would just tell everyone, said Bayne. People just want to help and I have learned to let them. Dwight and Peggy Jones have spent their entire lives in Heltonville, too, with Dwight inheriting the family funeral home business. Businesses and people have closer relationships in small towns, because, at least in the early days, they depended on one another for survival," said Dwight Jones.
As good roads and better autos shrunk the distance between small towns and bigger ones, some small town businesses couldn't compete. But mainly, the only difference in here and the city is that we do tilings slower. Heltonville native Damon Bailey put the old timber and stone mill town on the map with his basketball prowess, but the sport has been uniting the community for generations. "I remember during the tournaments, the schools would close for three days and everything shut down for the games," said Peggy Jones, former cheerleader. There is spirit among the townsfolk.
Dwight Jones and some other veterans organized the Heltonville 7f i 1 r', Join In Heltonville, everything, everyone Fort Ritner from FI be a small town person at heart because it took no getting used to at all." The Hudsons set up housekeeping in quarters over tire store. Their daughter, bom a year after their move, grew up right here, said Shelia, patting the counter by the cash register. "She was in her baby seat on the counter and learned to talk early, I think, because of all the people coming in to talk to her." The immaculate store, with its wood floors, wood stove and post office boxes complete with combination locks, could be right out of Mayberry. Old pop bottles decorate the tops of wood shelves and candy is lined up in a glass fronted display case. But the merchandise is decidedly modem: microwavable foods, cake mixes, low fat deli meats and cheeses.
Fort Ritner is about half an hour from Bedford, a trip Hudson makes about twice a week. Her daughter, now 16, spends about an hour each In the summers I hang out with friends and go to Bloomington or Spencer," he said. "I dont necessarily want to live in a Chicago or a New York, but I think I would like a bigger place when I grow up." Stinesville has become a slightly bigger place in recent years. Alxjut 10 years ago, we saw an influx of new blood and those people are willing to improve their property, said Tim Bayne. That really changed tilings for the better.
The towns heyday was in the early part of the century but by the 1980s, things had really run down. People who were left didnt have incomes to fix things up. Resistance to change may be a small towns biggest enemy, he thinks. People who say, Lets stay the way we are are silly, said Tim Bayne. If we continue without new people, we wouldnt be a town.
here in town, said Fleetwood. "In fact, that's what is different for my 12-year-old daughter from the way my wife and I grew up. We eat out a lot and were on the road all the time driving to gymnastics class, ball games or shopping. As a kid, I always ate supper at home, the same time every night, and might go to Bedford for a movie now and then. Today, everything is accessible, from jobs to entertainment, and people think nothing of driving an hour for either of these.
Lynn Fleetwood works at Ford in Bedford, spending about half an hour each way to get there. "But in town, not that much has changed," said Randall Fleetwood. "Heather gets to go wherever she needs to, but living in the country, she can ride her four-wheeler and enjoy things she might not in a city. Last winter, my friends and I pulled Heather and her friends all over a snow-covered field in a sleigh. And in summers, we can sit on our porch and hear nature, not traffic.
I By Gena Asher Sunday Herald-Times In a small town, people may know what youre having for breakfast before you even finish eating it, said Randall Fleetwood, lifelong Heltonville resident. "But I also know I can knock on any door in town for help and be invited in for a meal. Fleetwood was a member of the Heltonville High School Class of 1974, the last class to graduate before county consolidation, when the school became Heltonville Elementary in the Lawrence County town of 500. Thats where he works today as custodian, with duties that range from taking care of the building to helping out the teachers. One recent day, he made a short trip to the local sawmill to get some wood for a teacher whose class was building a tipi.
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