Going to school outside of Western Mass, I have realized that nobody has any idea what I’m saying when I say that I’m from Wilbraham. No matter how I try to explain it, there are things that you can only understand when you’re from the great Wilbraham, Mass.
1. Location.
To most people who don’t live there, Western Mass is kind of a myth. Anywhere past Worcester may or may not exist, and so people just sort of politely smile and pretend they know where it is when you tell them it’s next to Springfield.
2. Minnechaug.
Ah Minnechaug. The Nipmunk Indian tribe’s word for
blueberry. It also happens to be the name of my high school. Minnechaug is a
regional high school for Wilbraham and neighboring Hampden, and so instead of hyphenating
the names, the school was named for the Native American tribes who once lived
in the area, which is kind of an awesome tribute.
Minnechaug also lends itself
to the wonderful nickname of “Chaug.” My chaug t-shirts often cause confusion
around my college friends (no, I didn’t misspell chug).
3. Rices.
When I try to explain Wilbraham to people, I explain that one of the most popular locations is our fruit farm. A little family owned breakfast place on a fruit farm, Rices is the place to be for coffee, cider donuts, ice cream, fruit and the famous muffin tops. Muffin bottoms are not allowed.
5. Friendly's.
Friendly’s is our claim to fame. Wilbraham is the home of Friendly’s ice cream, with the headquarters standing tall on the town line next to Springfield. Unfortunately, although Friendly’s began in Wilbraham, you have to walk the extra 30 feet into Springfield to actually go into a Friendly’s restaurant… but we still consider it part of our town. It's where we go for every occasion.
6. Big Y.
Big Y is the king of all grocery stores in Wilbraham, as it is the only grocery store in Wilbraham. In high school, my friends and I would drive to Big Y when we were bored and walk up and down the aisles and marvel at all the weird generic food brands. #SmallTownProblems.
7. Tornado.
Back in 2011, Western Mass was hit by a freak tornado. Wilbraham was right in the middle of its path, and there is still a scar right through the center of our town where the tornado carved a path. For the class of 2011, this made for an especially memorable prom night.
8. Peach Festival.
Growing up I thought that it was completely normal to have a festival for a week that celebrated peaches. One of our parks was transformed into a carnival with peach sundaes and peach candy and peach soda and peaches! We had peach fireworks and a peach parade and a peach queen, and our town barber would dress up in a peach costume as Mr. Peach. Unfortunately, the peach festival ended a few years ago, but the peach road race is still a very real tradition.
9. Center of town.
The center of town is where the real magic happens. If you don’t have fond memories of sledding down the hill at the Academy, are you even from Wilbraham? If you never walked to Louis and Clark or the Village Store as a kid, were you even a kid? The Center of town is Wilbraham’s crowned jewel, a tiny center with three little shops, our Times Square. In the barbershop, Greg the barber changes the sign daily, with birthday announcements, congratulations, promposals and other important town business.
10. Aimless driving.
OK, this is definitely a thing that teenagers do in other towns too, but in Wilbraham it’s kind of the only thing to do. Up and down Monson Road, all the way across Main Street, to Soule, to Stonyhill, to Boston Road and repeat. If we were feeling daring, oftentimes my friends and I would cross into Hampden and venture up the “haunted” Rockadundee road.
Wilbraham is little, it’s quirky, it’s quiet and it was the perfect place to grow up.
