It’s happening all across the United States, I get to see it up close and personal in my own hometown where I grew up.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, this past weekend I was up in the WHN homeland.\u00c2\u00a0 Aroostook County Maine.\u00c2\u00a0 The northern most county of Maine, and actually one of the largest counties (in land mass) in the United States.\u00c2\u00a0 Anyhoo, my home town has this yearly festival.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s a parade, music, vendors, you know, the usual thing.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just a scant little town of probably just over 1000 people.\u00c2\u00a0 If you blinked while you were driving through it, you’d miss it.\u00c2\u00a0 Anyway, this event is one that everyone always looks forward to and has been a tradition for years.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s when people like myself who’ve grown up and away from the County come back with their kids to visit.\u00c2\u00a0 It is the one time a year this sleepy little town comes alive.<\/p>\n
But, this was probably the last year.\u00c2\u00a0 The budget for the event has pretty much dried up as the economic slowdown and rising gas prices have eaten into the budget.\u00c2\u00a0 And, I’m quite sure this scenario is playing out in little towns all across America.\u00c2\u00a0 Little traditions like this in jeopardy as revenues evaporate.\u00c2\u00a0 The problem is, these sorts of events serve as a vital part of a small town’s identity.\u00c2\u00a0 When you take these celebrations away, a certain amount of town pride is lost, and so the town suffers.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
It’s bad enough that many families in these towns are on a knife’s edge.\u00c2\u00a0 They are all a pink slip away from ruin.\u00c2\u00a0 And now for them to lose this one little distraction that they can look forward to each year, it’s sort of like someone taking the knife that is sticking in their gut, and giving it a quick twist.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, my town is taking up a collection.\u00c2\u00a0 Asking for donations so that the August Festival may continue, but how many will be able to give?\u00c2\u00a0 And will it be enough?\u00c2\u00a0 And how long can it be sustained?<\/p>\n
Of course no one really knows.\u00c2\u00a0 No one seems to really know what’s going to happen.\u00c2\u00a0 And for sure, people in Big City America are struggling as well.\u00c2\u00a0 But in Big City America, you have more resources, more opportunities within a more concentrated area.\u00c2\u00a0 In Small Town America, it is more difficult, especially if your Small Town is in an isolated, far removed corner of the nation.\u00c2\u00a0 There are few options to take, few routes to travel.\u00c2\u00a0 Despair can set in quickly, and it can suffocate.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
With any luck, this economic slowdown will do a 180 and start heading for calmer waters.\u00c2\u00a0 And with any luck, its wake will send ripples of prosperity back into these little towns, as often they are the last to benefit from economic turnarounds.\u00c2\u00a0 And with any luck, my little town’s festival, and all like it, will find a way to survive.\u00c2\u00a0 So while the bills come in, the bill collectors call, and the stress builds, there will at least be that one little thing to look forward to each year.\u00c2\u00a0 Everyone needs something to look forward to.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It’s happening all across the United States, I get to see it up close and personal in my own hometown where I grew up.\u00c2\u00a0 So, this past weekend I was up in the WHN homeland.\u00c2\u00a0 Aroostook County Maine.\u00c2\u00a0 The northern most county of Maine, and actually one of the largest counties (in land mass) in … Continue reading The Death of Small Town America<\/span>