Whenever I mention to someone that I'm from Massachusetts they automatically assume I live twenty minutes outside of Boston. However, that cannot be further from the truth. I was born in raised in good 'ole Wilbraham, Massachusetts, a place that is famous for being pretty uneventful. It has forests and farmlands and a cute little center of town that is made up of practically just two stores. That being said, Wilbraham was a wonderful place to grow up. Here's a list of most common signs that Wilbraham is your hometown.
1. You proudly exclaim to anyone who will listen that your hometown is the home of Friendly's ice cream.
2. And that basketball was invented practically in your backyard. Where, coincidentally, Dr. Seuss happened to live.
3. You remember which natural disaster you were in middle school.
4. You get emotional and nostalgic whenever someone mentions "peaches".
5. You've been to a summer concert at Fountain Park and have eaten one of the Friendly's sundae cups while there.
6. You go to the Big E every year religiously stand in line for an eternity to get a Maine Baked Potato.
7. You took a field trip to Historic Deerfield at some point in your life.
8. You practically lived at Mountain View during the summer.
9. You made Art from the Heart cards in elementary school.
10. You didn't join the cross country team because you didn't want to go running up Monson Hill.
11. It has always been your dream to be featured on the Barber shop window.
12. You rejoiced for longer than what was appropriate when Rice's Fruit Farm reopened.
13. You walked to the Village Store during Gym class at Minnechaug.
14. You played Omnikin ball in elementary school.
15. You are fiercely allegiant to your respective elementary school.
16. You are paranoid about hitting a deer whenever you drive through Hampden at night.
17. You outright refuse to drive down Rock-A- Dundee road at night.
18. You've been to Six Flags New England more times than you can count. And your parents still call it Riverside.
19. You can navigate the East Longmeadow rotary like a pro.
20. The only reason why you can do this is because the nearest Starbucks is in East Longmeadow.
21. After the new high school was built you had to sit in traffic for twenty minutes in the mornings to get into the school's parking lot.
22. You remember when the Neighborhood Pizza & Pasta House on Boston Road used to be The King and I, which used to be Olivia's Restaurant, and before that Il Giardiano.
23. You've driven through Bright Nights at least once.
24. You've seen the Nutcracker at Symphony Hall at least once.
25. The only reason you go to the Eastfield Mall is to go to the movie theater.
26. Mandarin Wilbraham has your order memorized at this point.
27. You can't go to the local YMCA or Big Y without seeing everyone you know and their mother.
28. You know that Elsie's Creamery at Randall's Farm has the best ice cream ever made.
29. You miss the old Minnechaug.
30. But not Y Hall.
