Editor’s
Note: The
following words were written by Clarence “Pete” Hughes as a tribute to small
towns like the one he grew up in, the Stark County village of La Fayette
(current pop.: 160), north of Peoria.
One of four children, Hughes lost his father at a young age, and his mother worked strenuously to raise the family. Pete went on to graduate from La Fayette High School in 1954, then earned a degree from Blackburn College in 1958, where he served as student marshal and became the school’s all-time leading scorer in basketball.
Hughes has been married to Carol Nielson, a college classmate and longtime educator, for 64 years. They raised two children while he built his own successful career in education, both on the high school and college levels. In his later years, he established an international mission that touched countless lives.
But Hughes never fell out of touch with his old hometown, and cherishes the influence that little La Fayette had on his life. The words below reflect life in small towns that many people, then and now, will remember with a smile.
SOME
TRAITS OF A SMALL TOWN
By
Clarence “Pete” Hughes
1.
The place everyone knows everyone.
2.
The place one can charge their groceries and pay later.
3.
The place when you go to visit grandma, it is in the paper.
4.
The place everyone knows everyone’s car.
5.
The place all know who is doing what, but read the paper to find out who got
caught!
6.
The place where all know who is “expecting.”
7.
The place where everyone knows the dog of all families.
8.
The place where all know those in the service.
9.
The place all kids can be on the basketball team.
10.
The place where every kid can be in the school play.
11.
The place where we know who got a speeding ticket.
12.
The place where all can go to a funeral.
13.
The place where all go to the hall after the funeral and eat potato salad.
14.
The place one knows the basketball team will lose often.
15.
The place where if the team beats the rival, the season is great!
16.
The place where there are more good people than bad people.
17. The place where some people go to church only on Easter and Christmas to keep their souls in GREAT shape!
18.
The place where we know all who go to college.
19.
The place where we all know who was sent to the principal’s office.
20.
The place we all liked as kids but never returned to live.
21.
The place where there are no more stores.
22.
The place where Walmart has taken over.
23.
The place now filled with old folks.
24.
The place that has abandoned houses that are a sad sight.
25.
The place of the cemetery where we will spend eternity.
26.
The place where only the rich kids went to college – sons of farmers.
27.
The place where you could get a summer job detasseling corn.
28.
The place a farmer at the end of the day asked what he owed you.
29.
The place a farmer would never think of giving you a “tip.”
30.
The place where grocery stores sold July 4 sparklers.
31.
The place where you did not pump your gas in the car.
32.
The place where you memorized a poem for the Christmas program.
33.
The place where kids visited the Baby Jesus in their dad’s bathrobes.
34.
The place where the church was full to see the Christmas program.
35.
The place where the new kid in town was harassed.
36.
The place where a good kid defended the new kid.
37.
The place where only a few homes had flush toilets.
38.
The place where single women teachers were courted by local bachelors.
39.
The place where an ice storm meant NO SCHOOL!
40.
The place where everyone knows who had the new car.
41.
The place where on had an eccentric person no one bothered.
42.
The place where all knew who drank too much.
43.
The place where there was a guy who was seen as a “fighter.”
44.
The place where one got new clothes for Easter.
45.
The place where your mother told you to “Be good” when you left the house.
46.
The place where going to a movie, any movie, was a big treat!
47.
The place where a family had kids who smoked walking to school.
48.
The place where the kid smoking wore a T-shirt in the winter.
49.
The place where the smoking kids rolled the cigarettes in their sleeve.
50.
The place that was our World – it was home and it was safe to us!
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