Small town

"Well I was born in a small town,
And I can breathe in a small town.
Gonna die in this small town,
And that's prob'ly where they'll bury me."  (Small Town, John Mellencamp)

I absolutely love my town.  I love this time of year here.  I would say that fair week and homecoming are the best weeks of the year for the active locals.  Tomorrow will kick off homecoming week, "Out with the Old, In with the New."  Things have changed a little here in the 'Ville, as Jay's cousin calls it.  This year we will begin homecoming with an alumni volleyball tournament, alumni football game, bonfire and coronation tomorrow.  The Student Council is having a lunch at noon; our church youth group is having a breakfast at the Fire House in the morning.  Things are gonna be busy.

Next week the high school girls volleyball team will be in the conference tournament so the traditional coronation and pep rally and bonfire were moved up a little.  I think they still have the school pep rally on Thursday at 2:00.  (Wish I could go to that...I hear some characters from the past are making an appearance!)  Friday there is no school, which I think is the pits, it kills part of the excitement, but the parade will be at 3:00 like it has been ever since I can remember.  The dedication of our beautiful new school building will begin at 5:30 in the new gym and there will be a Booster Club sponsored tailgate immediately following that ceremony in what I call the teacher's parking lot.  Kickoff for the Bluestreaks Homecoming Football game is 7:00 p.m. on Friday night. 

I am proud to say that I am from Martinsville.  I am equally proud to say that I am a Bluestreak.  I am so thankful that Jay and I are able to raise our children here and provide for them with fairly local jobs.  I know that is not always possible and you have to be practical about things like that.  My plan, which I guess I should realize by now really isn't my own, is to live and die as a resident of Martinsville.  I want what's best for my children and their families in the future, but unless they move to some really beautiful place I like to visit regularly, I would be tickled if they stayed here too.

I have no regrets, no shame in what or who I've become, or that I'm still here in this little 'ole town.  It is my home here on earth and there's no place I'd rather be.   I love that I'm looking forward to tomorrow and next week and the excitement it brings to town.  I already cannot wait for next year's fair.  That has to be the highlight of the summer.  As it is with many places and their traditions, people plan their vacations around the Martinsville Ag Fair. 

I know there are lots of towns just like mine all over, and I'm thankful  that ours has remained a small, rural community.  I know that I would support whatever school my kids were in and whatever the name of it might be.  I suppose I would even wear purple if I had to.  But I can't say I'm terribly upset that the flood ruined our old and unique high school.  It truly saved our school, our small town and the tradition that will continue with the one and only Bluestreaks.