I grew up in a small Canadian town of about 4000 people. They say with the outlying area we make up about 7000 people. They claim town is growing but that's the same numbers I remember hearing since I was in elementary school. It's a quirky little town where almost everybody is connected somehow. Either you know them or know of them or know people who know them.
If you're from a small town or spent any amount of time in one, you'll know there is a limited amount of activities you can do. Don't get me wrong... we have our share of things to do. We've got an ancient bowling alley, an ice cream shop my parents went to when they were in high school, and a one screen theatre that only takes cash and seats about 75 people. But when those fail to entertain you, you can either drive an hour to the city or engage in some good ol' community events!
This town loves to bring in seasons with a big community event! We start the year off with the tree that tells us when it's spring . April we have a huge bull sale. Then in May we celebrate the snow leaving by having a home trade show. June we've got the classic car show that takes over a parking lot or park in town.
July marks one of the town's favorite summer past times... tubing down the river that runs through town! Everybody does it! And they do it in some pretty random looking groups! Don't be surprised if you find a cooler strapped to a dingy floating past you. Or a greased up watermelon.
August hosts the fall fair and if you're lucky a festival or two. Some years we have the Savor the Flavor festival, where all booths must be food related. Yum! Our town's mascot is the Canadian Goose.
I mean, I guess it makes sense and all. Our town's name has a goose related word in it. But it doesn't really assure people we're all that normal when we invite out-of-towners to attend our Festival of the Goose. Or as I refer to it the Festival of the Quacks!
September, well we're sort of too busy getting back to work/school and harvesting to really organize anything. But October we take over the local park/campground on Halloween and the whole town comes out for a pumpkin walk and hot chocolate. We follow it up by watching fireworks! The only time of year we have a firework display.
December we have the Festival of Lights or parade if you will. Followed by all the stores being open far past their usual 5:00 close time. The one night of the year that they are open till midnight!
We have a lot more events but those are the most interesting. What are your favorite events in your town/city? What events could you do with out?
Sounds like a fun place to visit! There is a small town near my parents lake home and I like to go there for the small town feel- you can't fake it, it has to be a real small town farther away from the hustle and bustle and noise!
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a small northern Michigan town, and you can find a ton of people tubing the river for fun in the summer. Floating coolers and squirt guns are very necessary. (:
ReplyDeleteThere were typically festivals of some sort happening throughout the year, but one of my favorite things was always the chili cook off during Summer Fest. The food was usually pretty great, and I loved walking around to all of the booths and sampling the chili... yum!
My younger self would never think she's hear her older self saying "I wish I was living in a small town again". There are so many things I miss about small town living. My husband and I are moving to FL soon and just might look for a small town to call home.
I loved hearing about your small town festivals and fun! (:
I admit--- I do not have much small town experience.
ReplyDeleteBut I love the sounds of everything you described... seems like the way you want to be raised. With traditions, and community.....
My husband want to eventually live in a smaller town (of course that means just about anything when the smallest city I have ever lived in has over 4 million people)
I live in a small, small rural unincorporated town where... we do not much!! We have a post office, 2 gas stations with quickmart stores, a casino on one end and the high school on the other and only 3 streets in between. There aint much to do and I love reading about all your town does. I wish our little community was more like a real community but even in a town this small, it seems like everyone just wants to stay to themselves. We do have a loggers rodeo every June and the speedway sprint car races on Friday nights during spring-summer. But that's about it. Thanks for the peek into your town. It's a treasure!
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