Reflections on a Small Town

"A River Runs Through It," is the title of an excellent movie made quite a few years ago.  You can find it on the free cable stations sometimes.  Worth a watch.

Well, here in Canal Fulton, we also have a river running through it, and added to that a canal runs through it.  That's a lot of quaint in one place.  The downtown park is only 11 acres!!  And in that area, we manage to have a couple of soccer fields, a working canal boat, a visitor's center, a museum, a pavilion, the canal on one side, the river on the other side, a towpath, and parking.  Adjacent to the park is a canoe livery, and behind that they own more acreage so there is a large camping area for weekend events of all kinds.

The other day I ordered some flowers, and chose to go to Coach House.  It's been a while since I placed an order but the gentleman who answered the phone was quite nice.  So he asks me, "Do we usually bill you or would you want to pay with a credit card?"  I asked him to bill us.  Kind of like doing business on a handshake, right?  That's what I love about this place.  At the end of the conversation, he was talking like he'd known me for years.  One thing he said was interesting.  Our phone numbers here in CF always started with 854.  He said the number of 854 numbers has gone down dramatically, and now he can't tell where people are from based on their phone number.  That's cell phones and bundled deals.  It's yet another homogenization of our lives.

Near Coach House is a building that sat useless and rotting for years.  It's been fixed up good as new and houses a glass shop.  The propriestor sells the most beautiful glass you've ever seen, not to mention a host of other gorgeous products.  His son blows glass on the property for visitors to see, and an engineering firm occupies another part of the second building.  The owner wants to promote Ohio, so all of the goods he sells at his business are made in Ohio by Ohioans.  Isn't that neat?  I bought some earrings there and they are lovely.

Today we are off to the the Italian store in North Hill, Akron.  It's a little outside of our area, but you can't argue with taste and quality.  I've been going to this business for probably close for more than 40 years.  We're picking up some of their famous Sicilian sausage and some freshly grated parmesan cheese for homemade spaghetti we'll be serving on Saturday.  We always have an Easter egg hunt and a dinner the weekend before Easter, a tradition that started with our first granddaughter who is now 18. 

When the weather gets nicer, we'll do a little walking tour of CF.  You don't have to own hiking boots for it either.  See you tomorrow morning!!