My entire life I have lived in a small, rural town in Northwestern Pennsylvania called Waterford. My dad grew up in the same town as me and my mom is from a small town nearby. Many people give small towns a bad rep saying that it's where all the rednecks come from and that we are all hicks. When I hear people talk about my town like this I just have to sit back and laugh. This town has given me more than any big city ever could.
You know everyone.
It's like a having a huge family when you live in a small town and a lot of times a majority of the town is made up of your relatives. I, for one, enjoy this luxury because it makes it extremely difficult to lose contact with any one of your family members. When you walk into the local grocery store or pharmacy you get a genuine greeting because the people actually care. The conversation usually includes asking how the latest activity you are involved in is going and, in my case, what I plan on going to college for and where I've applied. One of my favorite parts of living in a small town is when you walk into a diner the waitress already has your drink ready and your food order is almost done. It's the sense of being at home wherever I go that I enjoy.
You get to work for (and support) local businesses.
I really appreciate the idea of supporting local businesses because overall it benefits the entire community. When businesses fall on hard times the community unifies and has each other's backs. When working for local businesses I always meet people that are new to town or just stopping by for a visit. I will always recommend any of our local businesses before telling people to go into the city to eat or shop. Working for a local business presents the opportunity of making connections for future purposes. I have used several of my connections to get my position at other jobs. Overall, after working for a local business for an extended period of time everyone from customers to co-workers to employers become much like family.
There's always the community fair.
My favorite time of the year is Labor Day weekend. School has just begun, fall is on its way, and best of all it's time for the community fair! It's only been a couple weeks since The Waterford Community Fair, but I'm already looking forward to it next year. I absolutely adore the smell of fried foods from the fairway and hay from the livestock barns. Anything you can imagine is fried and there are always new food creations. A lot of people find fair rides faulty due to recent events, but I still reminisce the past years when I would spend an entire day using ride-o-rama passes to ride all of the rides as many times as we could with our friends before our parents told us we had to go home because it was getting late. Fair time is often an excellent chance to spend time with my family. My family enjoys watching the truck pulls and getting the huge bucket of french fries drenched in vinegar that we all like to share.
Having the luxury of attending a small school.
My school is much like my community, extremely small. There are approximately 700 students in the building ranging from freshman to senior year. I, personally, enjoy attending a small school because it gives me the chance to get to know everyone better. When there is a new student we all do our best to welcome them and invite them into our friend groups. We are known to come together when a student, teacher, or coach is going through something. Just this week a former teacher and coach passed away. He had a huge impact on our school and entire community. As a school we have all come together to mourn his loss. Going to a small school gives students the great opportunity to become close with their teachers. Many students continue their relationships with teachers far beyond graduating high school.
Going to the infamous Friday night football games.
In my town, football games are a huge deal (and I mean huge). Almost the entire town shows up to support our boys. We have a cheering section made up of all grade levels that chant and support our players. It has become popular to tailgate at any of our home football games. One of our very own classmates is an aspiring DJ and comes out to play us his music. Our cheering section will order pizzas, buy soda, and set up some cornhole games to keep everyone entertained. This often makes for eventful Friday nights.
Family is a huge deal.
You may be wondering why I keep mentioning family. Well, in small towns family is all we see each other as. We come together during hard times and cheer each other on as we accomplish our goals. Regardless of our backgrounds or current standings we are all capable and willing to support one another. After almost eighteen years I have not ceased to be amazed by the strength of this community. It truly has been a blessing to grow up around such kind people.
