Recently, one of my followers on Facebook asked me what kind of town I lived in because she said I reminded her of a “small-town, down-home girl.” I take that as a compliment because I am! People who know me know I’m a small town girl for sure. But if you don’t know me, or know where I come from, let me take you on a little tour of the place I call home:
New Concord, Ohio, is a small Norman Rockwell kind of town, about an hour east of Columbus just north of Interstate 70. There are about 2400 friendly folks living in my town, and if you walk down Main Street, you’re likely to meet a few. Of course when Muskingum University’s students fill the town for the school year the population doubles. Or so it seems, traffic-wise.
Yes, we have a beautiful university campus on the north side of town. You can’t miss the entrance to the campus. The wide lanes sweep up the hill from Main Street in grand fashion, past College Drive Presbyterian Church, and some of the original class buildings. If you keep driving, you’ll eventually make a right and find yourself winding down the hill past the college lake on your left. A lot of marriage proposals have taken place on the footbridge that spans the lake. It’s a truly beautiful spot in spring when the trees are in bud, and the daffodils are blooming. It’s equally as magnificent in fall when the big trees lining the hillside don all their oranges, yellows, and reds. You might even think you’ve been transported to an Ivy League campus, it’s just so picturesque! There’s so much more to see on the campus of Muskingum, like the stadium, where the local high school football team gets to play on Friday nights, and the college boys take possession of on Saturday afternoons. There are the sorority and fraternity houses that line Lakeside Drive, and the dorms that dominate two hills, east and west. There’s the quad, where the major buildings of the university meet, and friendly clerks sell goods in the university bookstore.
But let’s go a bit west of campus to the grand dame, Montgomery Boulevard. This is one of the prettiest streets in New Concord with its brick surface, big older homes, and tree-lined sidewalks. When I think of a classic American street, this is it. Some of my school friends grew up on this street, and I imagine how wonderful it would have been to walk to and from school every day on Montgomery Boulevard.
Back down on Main Street, you’ll find some quaint little shops like my own Tami Loves, Thistle & Clover, or Christy’s. If you like pizza, there’s Wally’s Pizza, or Creno’s, both within a few steps of my shop. Your money is safe in the Century or Community Banks, and if you need an ice cream fix, the Dairy Dutchess has been serving up sweet treats for probably thirty years or better. We have a new public library, and we have some historical sites, too, like Harper Cabin.
Our most famous citizen was the late Senator John H. Glenn, NASA astronaut, and the first man to orbit the earth. He and his wife, Annie, made New Concord their home for many years. Their home is now a museum relocated down on Main Street. I had the very great honor of receiving my high school diploma from John Glenn, and I was present that day on the quad at Muskingum, when he announced his candidacy for US President back in 1983, for the 1984 election. He was a real hometown hero, and everyone misses him. All the old-timers still talk about the parade that took place in New Concord, when John came back home from his flight around the earth. The whole town lined the streets to honor their local hero.
You can find a lot of these old-timers talking outside the local grocery store, Reisbecks. For years it was the IGA. I remember meeting friends in the parking lot to carpool to movies, and going there with my mom as a young girl. It is a true hometown grocery where you can’t walk down an aisle without seeing someone you know. The produce comes from local farms, and the girl scouts still sell cookies by the front door. Some things never change, and that’s the way it should be with respect to hometown traditions. And if you happen to head west, past the grocery, to the edge of town, you’ll see one of Ohio’s historical “S” bridges on your right. You can’t drive on it, but you can picnic by it.
Hometowns should always be a reminder of our childhood- good times trick-or-treating, caroling at Christmas, car washes for fundraisers, and parades to honor the football champions. No matter how much the town has grown, and modernized, the people and the events remain the same. I love going into the New Concord post office and seeing the same mural on the wall, of ice skaters on the college pond. It was painted back in 1940, by Clyde Singer, and it is called “Skaters.” I hope they never get rid of that mural, for that is one of the most lovely things in the village; a characteristic that no other town in America has. And in this post office, this “anchor” of the town, you’ll get the true feeling of small-town America. People come in and greet each other, talk about the weather, the high-school football team’s latest win, or the Methodist Church’s bake-sale next weekend. It’s a place where you laugh with your neighbors, or give directions to lost travelers. You can also just come in to buy stamps from a friendly clerk who smiles and thanks you for coming in.
New Concord isn’t unusual. There are a thousand small towns across Ohio similar to it, but it is unique in what it has to offer, and the people who live there. You might say they’re “small-town and down-home” and they would enthusiastically agree, but to me, they’re just great people who care about each other.
I hope this gives you a feel of my hometown. I enjoyed taking you on this tour!
Tami Loves…the people who make my hometown the warm and wonderful place it is!
