Growing up in a small town gives you a unique perspective on life. My small home town of Silver Creek, NY is nestled near Lake Erie and is home of a grand total of 2,602 people. Here are a few things you DEFINITELY will remember about growing up in good ole' SC.

#1. Petri Cookies:

When the factory closed a few years ago everyone lost their minds. I mean, where else could you get a bag of 20+ deliciously soft cookies for $1?! And the town used to smell like chocolate chip cookies all of the time, still sad.

#2. Knowing everyone you go to school with:

Some people I talk to at Syracuse think that I'm exaggerating when I say that I could literally name every single person in my graduating class. I guess that's what happens when your graduating class just barely tops out at 63 people.

#3. The only town smaller than us is Forestville:

And we make sure that every one knows it.

#4. Going to Denny's after EVERY school dance:

Eventually this turned into 3AM milkshake runs as well.

#5. Fall time means one thing: Football

The entire town was at every Friday night home game. Often times the highlight of the night was "accidentally" counting incorrectly in hopes of making the cheerleaders do extra push ups when we scored.

#6. Die hard Buffalo sports fans:

You love the Bills with unwavering loyalty. You HATE the Patriots with everything you have. And you die a little inside every time the Sabres give up a lead and end up losing.

#7. The Backline:

If you weren't there you had serious FOMO, and if you were there you couldn't tell anyone about what was going on because they had confiscated your phone upon entry. *insert upside down smiley face emoji*

#8. Does anybody else remember that "gang" we had for a second there???

#9. Cow hill is recognized as an iconic landmark. Nobody knows the actual name of the road, but we do know that it's where the track team goes to run sprints which sucks. Sucks a lot. That's a steep hill. Good job guys.

#10. Ellie's Deli:

The best place in town to grab a slice of pizza or cheese fries (R.I.P. Red's, gone but not forgotten, ily).

#11. You definitely spent at least a year calling "Tops," "Quality Markets" when they transitioned.

#12. When the cheerleaders became National Champions:

This was a huge deal when I went to high school. I played basketball, but some of my best friends were cheerleaders and they went to and won a national championship two years in a row. Their banners are still proudly hanging in our gym.

#13. The Summer Recreation Program:

Where underpaid babysitters who were literally 18-20 became the bosses of close to 100 middle and elementary schoolers. Whether you were diving for the brick in the pool on swimming days, trying to survive on the One Tree Hill inspired basketball courts, or playing dodgeball, you always went home exhausted.

#14. The Laurel Run is something you've done before. The Hotellings are a household name, and everyone knows and loves them. Whether you walk/run in this yearly event or are passing out waters, the whole town stops for a day to host it.

#15. Speaking of stopping the town, there's also the annual Grape Festival. There's a pageant, and baking competitions, and rides, and fried dough, and grape stomping, and Campi's, and lemonade, and IT'S AMAZING.

#16. Most families have been here for years:

That's right. Generations. To put this in perspective to outsiders, most of the teachers we had also taught all of our older siblings and our parents and knew our grandparents by their first names.

#17. That random day when everyone drove their tractors to school????

#18. The vineyards:

Fall time also means grape season. The whole town smells like the concord grapes that dominate the farm land. Our days were full of four wheeling through them and our nights were full of bonfires in the middle of clearings of the fields since most of our families own them, or knew someone who did.

#19. The break wall:

This is pretty much the only cool hang out spot we have. Right on Sunset Bay Beach there's a break wall that extends out into the water. If you just got ice cream and wanted to eat it with a view or were looking for somewhere to go that wasn't home, this is where you came.

#20. The beautiful wonder that is Frosty Treat. Most of our parents have at one point or another called it "Tastey Freeze," either way it's the best place to go if you want ice cream. If you're a loyal customer the owner might even cut you a deal, and that's when you know you're a VIP citizen of Silver Creek.

#21. The Bay:

Sunset Bay is the go to beach destination for anyone in an hours drive away, and since it's five minutes from the center of town, it's probably where you and all of your friends worked during the summer.

#22. "We'll see ya." ....literally a town wide inside joke.

#23. Aunt Millie's, Tom's Family Restaurant, and SBR. If you've never been, give these places a visit. They're all small casual restaurants with amazing food.

#24. THE WOODEN PLAYGROUND. You're probably still mad they tore it down even though the new one is so cool. Who else had a squad with a password to get into the hangout cave-like part of it???

#25. The old high school down town:

It's haunted. 100% haunted.

#26. All of the high school classics:

Pep-rally's that became as competitive as the games they were in preparation of, BKP!, creek walks with Mr. T's class, the school store, thinking Mr. B (who is now the principle!!) is awesome, and finally being able to eat your lunch in the courtyard or lobby.

#27. A few years ago the town was hit with flash flooding and people's homes were destroyed. The morning after it happened there was an entire movement organized to help the families put their lives back together and begin the clean up process. It was amazing to see the town pull together so quickly to help their fellow neighbors.

#28. Route 20:

Pretty much the only main road you need to get anywhere important (Tim Hortons, Walmart, the "ghetto plex," Applebee's, Sunny's, etc). There's a billion fresh fruit and veggie stands along the way, and if the road is ever closed you probably know every single backroad anyway.

#29. Deer:

They're everywhere, except when you're hunting.

#30. When the basketball team made it to Glen Falls:

This was another town wide event. You were either at the game supporting, or watching in the auditorium with the rest of the high school. We STILL argue that we got robbed with that bogus foul call in the back court. I mean come on?! HE MADE THE WINNING SHOT FROM BASICALLY HALF COURT. WE EARNED THAT W. It's fine. I'm fine. We're all fine.

#31. The only place you get gas is on the Reservation aka the Rez. Getting it anywhere else breaks your heart and your bank.

#32. Leaving:

Growing up, everyone wanted to get the heck out of this town. Now, many of us get nostalgic and even miss it. We'll always love and be loyal to Silver Creek. It's great having a place like that to call home... But by "miss it" I mean we'll come visit for a few weeks, and then we are out.

Attribution:

giphy.com