I love small towns....

[Gellar]

Grew up and still live in small town Iowa. Used to be about 800 residents but back in 2008 we had an f5 tornado then 2 weeks later a flood. I believe now we have around 500 residents.

Does your town still claim the most NFL players per capita?

 

[Gellar]

Love it, good for her. I had forgotten about bingo. I remember bingo at the church, after the Sunday service.

Bingo is a little to rowdy for me. WHOA they take that serious!

 

[duckhunt]

Does your town still claim the most NFL players per capita?

That's not my town. You're thinking parkersburg.

 

[CowboyLeroy]

Those are, in fact, pork tenderloins, literally the most important food item in Hoosierland. Many will be as big as the entire plate.

When my wife and I opened our market in November a guy from Iowa came in and told us all about them, he said he he goes home he'll fill up a cooler with the ones from his favorite place and freeze them when he gets home

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Years ago while trout fishing near Pine Az., I came out one morning to find I had a flat tire. It turns out the spare was flat too.,So headed down the hill to the local market, where the shopkeeper called a mechanic up in Strawberry. He drove all the way down the Mountain, picked me up with the flat, and drove us back up the mountain.
He fixed the flat and drove me back to the cabin.
On the way home I stopped and had him fix the spare tire, and gave him a hefty tip. Great folks up there!

 

[JShane]

Where I get my haircut here in town “Cougar Cuts” (no, not THAT kind of cougar gents) has great ladies working there who all hunt, mounts everywhere on the walls, one gal has a trained shed dog and always is showing me pics! PLUS they serve you a beer while you’re waiting for your turn in the chair!

Our town is the county seat…”biggest” town in county and we just now broke 11,000 people. Course we live outta town, too busy for us

Im punching my barber in the mouth when i see him next.

 

[GoGriz]

Today, in Boulder, MT, I can go get a delicious chicken fried steak from a restaurant owned by a fellow who I went to high school with and who was my wife’s date to senior prom. I could then go next-door and follow that up with a delicious cinnamon roll made by a gal I went to high school with at her shop. Two minutes from there I could be fishing the same holes I used to go fish on my lunch breaks in high school. There would probably already be other kids fishing there, and there’s a good chance they would be friends with my kids. After that, I could head to the bar and order a steak and a beer from a guy who serves on the same fire department as me. To wind down, two minutes from there, I could take a walk through the cemetery and visit friends now gone. And after that, I could drive a mountain road 15 minutes home, past places I’ve hunted and harvested deer and elk many times over the last 3 decades, and where my kids will too. I would waive at every car I pass, they would waive back too, and I would know most of the folks I crossed paths with, though admittedly less so every day it seems.

There are pros and cons to small towns, and I don’t claim that they are better than other places, but a very big positive is the power of community when Dunbar’s Number is difficult to exceed locally, and a familiarity only surpassed by family is on offer in every little corner of a place.

Can you please adopt me and tell everyone I am your long lost 38 year old brother and see if they will accept me as a local - I’ll move my family tomorrow. I will repay you in manual labor and paying your bar tab for a year…. Says the guy with 10 million neighbors within 50 miles of his house. This thread is amazing and reminds me of how I wish my kids would be growing up.

 

[AlaskaHunter]

I bought my Dad's Polaris Ranger and had to go into the local License Bureau to get the paperwork done. I stopped in to ask a question today and the lady says, "Hi Mr. XXXX". I asked my question, she answered and then asked if I wanted to do the transfer now. I replied I didn't have a bill of sale. She said, "here is a form". I said "great, I can go have my Dad sign it". She said, "He might be in the parking lot".

I love small towns.

What are your small town stories?

I have never lived in a big city so can't compare.
Seems like where ever I've lived we have had wonderful neighbors who became close friends.
This past winter we lived outside of Ronan MT
Last week a cougar killed a deer 30 yards from the house and dragged it out to the pasture.
I was away and my wife texted the neighbor who immediately came over and scooped up the carcass with his tractor.

The next day I was at the vet to get the dog's health certificate to fly back to Alaska and told him the story.
He had a client a mile away call him about a cougar in a tree just outside his house.
I love how small town vets know everyone in the neighborhood.

 

[Valley1320]

Love this thread!!

 

[Dakota79]

The county I live in is 1.74 million acres with a population of about 600.

The local school just passed an enrollment of 200 and that is K–12. We still have 2 1 room schoolhouse country schools.

We have two jars in our mailbox with money in them. One is for the mailman to make the correct postage on boxes we have to mail.

The other jar is for when the mailman brings something from town for us. It might be a gallon of milk or a can of chew. Just call him up and tell him what you need.

The closest neighbor is 4 miles away. At the same time we might go help a neighbor brand and they are 50 miles away but we still call them neighbors.

The closest café is 7 miles cross country but 28 miles if you go by the road. You can eat there several times on tab and every few months they mail you a little note with what you owe to pay next time. Either that or we just sign a check and leave with them.

Our newspaper has what is called Local News. A lady from the neighborhood calls every Sunday to see what we did that week and it is published in the paper.

If we have to get a tire fixed in town when it is done he puts your initials on it and sets it outside the door.

In December, January and February we take turns going to neighbors places once a week to play cards and have supper.

You know what neighbor is calling by what time of the day the phone rings and it starts at 5 in the morning.

You have the local vets number memorized and she will come no matter what time of day or night.

If you are short on time you call the grocery store and tell them what you need and they will have it already bagged and ready for you.

The bank will call if something doesn't look right on your account.

You know each other not only by their face but by what they drive, the boots they wear and the horse they ride.

 

[Gellar]

We have two jars in our mailbox with money in them. One is for the mailman to make the correct postage on boxes we have to mail.

we just leave loose change in our mailbox.

My FAther in laws cousin, I suppose that makes him my wife’s 2nd cousin?, thinks we are hillbilly’s of the highest degree. He gets a big kick out of sending mail. He will address it with , our last name, top of the hill you know where, 52146. The card usually says something like I just wanted to see if it would make it.

 

[Gellar]

The mailman story jogged a few memories. Our mail lady’s name is Marcy. I leave her deer sausage in the mailbox after we process deer. She comes to a lot of my adult education things I do at work, there’s always a hand wrote note the next day saying what a wonderful time it was. When my wife’s grandma was still in living on her farm it was about 10:30 when Marcy would deliver her mail. Marcy would go inside the house and use the potty. My wife’s grandma would have coffee and pie for her.

The garbage man is another story. We have to bring our garbage to the rural drop off location. Our day is Wednesday. The garbage man is usually smokin a cigarette and we shoot the shit. Sometimes I miss Wednesday and I have to go to a different spot on Thursday or Friday. Fridays he usually has a 30 of Busch lattes and you can take one if you like.

 

[Stocker]

we just leave loose change in our mailbox.

My FAther in laws cousin, I suppose that makes him my wife’s 2nd cousin?, thinks we are hillbilly’s of the highest degree. He gets a big kick out of sending mail. He will address it with , our last name, top of the hill you know where, 52146. The card usually says something like I just wanted to see if it would make it.

On a trip to visit family in Denver I went to hang out with my cousins and their friends. A cute girl walks up to me and asks with all sincerity “so do you guys have running water and electricity?” Without missing a beat I said “running water like the creek? Yep we fetch water every morning, and no electricity yet, but they said in the next 10 years or so.”

My cousin turned red as a beet. Needless to say I guess the cute girl had no interest in riding in my covered wagon back to Nebraska.

 

[Nick87]

On a trip to visit family in Denver I went to hang out with my cousins and their friends. A cute girl walks up to me and asks with all sincerity “so do you guys have running water and electricity?” Without missing a beat I said “running water like the creek? Yep we fetch water every morning, and no electricity yet, but they said in the next 10 years or so.”

My cousin turned red as a beet. Needless to say I guess the cute girl had no interest in riding in my covered wagon back to Nebraska.

I was asked by probably the same girl but from a Chicago suburb once if I've ever been to a McDonald's. Then it dawned on me she was dead serious, wtf. Didn't close the deal on that one either.

 

[jpc01101]

I am lucky enough to have moved back to the small town I grew up in. My Dad owns the only grocery store which is directly across the street from me, my Grandparents owned it before him (open since 1946). I go over about 5 mornings a week at 7:00 when Dad opens and stay until my first meeting at 8 (normally take my 8:00 while walking back across the street). The same guys come in every morning and we talk about hunting or the price of soybeans/corn or how high fertilizer is going to be next year. It is such a nice escape from the rest of my weekdays talking about Cyber Security for a huge corporation. Good stuff these small towns.

 

[44hunter45]

Last fall stopped at Glen's automotive services in Seeley Mt. Explained my situation and that I was from out of state, the nice gentleman dropped wrenching on a truck, wheeled the floor jack out in parking lot and had me back on the road in no time. Love small town service, not so much horseshoe nails though.

This happened to me in Williams, AZ in January.

 

[OntarioHunter]

On a trip to visit family in Denver I went to hang out with my cousins and their friends. A cute girl walks up to me and asks with all sincerity “so do you guys have running water and electricity?” Without missing a beat I said “running water like the creek? Yep we fetch water every morning, and no electricity yet, but they said in the next 10 years or so.”

My cousin turned red as a beet. Needless to say I guess the cute girl had no interest in riding in my covered wagon back to Nebraska.

Yeah, you'd be surprised how many people think Canada is a frozen land of ice and snow. Toronto is the same latitude as Boise.

 

[MNElkNut]

Who knew it was possible to put a spare tire on backwards? Let me back up a bit. I get a flat on my F250 when we were pheasant hunting near Plentywood MT. No big deal, 4 of us make quick work of it. I wasn't paying attention when my cousin put the spare on. Nobody noticed it was on backwards. Away we go. for about 25 yards until the valve stem rips off the spare. Dang. Since we had 2 trucks we grab them both and go into Plentywood. They guy at the tire shop sells me a used tire that has about 80% tread left, mounts, balances it, and replaces the valve stem on the spare too. Total bill? $20.

Oh and as we were waiting....I cannot tell this without laughing myself!....my uncle is standing next to his son-in-law. He says, "Hey Jon, my birthday is coming up, will you buy me this hat?". Jon says, sure! It is all I can do to not laugh out loud as I realize my uncles birthday is in August. Remember what we were doing in MT? Pheasant hunting. It was October.

 

[NR_Hunter]

Snow goose hunting in De Smet, SD. I needed lock de-icer to get the trailer open containing all of our snow goose decoys.... in APRIL. I stopped at a local gas station to look for some, they didn't have any. The lady working behind the counter called the wife of the hardware store owner, who then told her husband to leave the bar and walk across the street to open up the hardware store for us.

The hardware store owner walked over, opened the store, let us get the lock de-icer and then proceeded to not let us pay him. It was $2.50 for the lock de-icer and I offered him a crisp $5 bill and told him I didn't need change to make things easier, but he insisted I take it for free.

 

[Nick87]

Snow goose hunting in De Smet, SD. I needed lock de-icer to get the trailer open containing all of our snow goose decoys.... in APRIL. I stopped at a local gas station to look for some, they didn't have any. The lady working behind the counter called the wife of the hardware store owner, who then told her husband to leave the bar and walk across the street to open up the hardware store for us.

The hardware store owner walked over, opened the store, let us get the lock de-icer and then proceeded to not let us pay him. It was $2.50 for the lock de-icer and I offered him a crisp $5 bill and told him I didn't need change to make things easier, but he insisted I take it for free.

I had to look up lock de icer. Never new that was a thing. I've always just used a cigarette or small butane lighter.