THE CITIZENS OF A VILLAGE

Villages are made up of citizens. These are the people who keep the wheels of industry going around. The teachers, doctors, clergymen, professionals, bankers, merchants, technicians, homemakers and those who pursue their daily lifestyles.

No village community would be complete without its characters, those who believe they are the trend setters, the moralists of every village, the employers and the plain, everyday citizens. Every villager contributes something to the community structure and it requires a blend of many people and their natures and attitudes to have a village society.

Most people who ever lived in a village became part of the village structure. They contributed to the lifestyle of the community; some have memories of the people, the part each individual had in village affairs and those who made the daily life of the community interesting.

Many villagers are only remembered for their mode of dress, their special vocation, their wisdom, bits of dialogue, a once in a lifetime happening and their quiet contribution to the gentle society.

Those of us who were the sons and daughters of villagers will have special memories of the people of the community and their unique contribution to the village society.

The people recorded in the following list are not only the important individuals of the village; they are the citizens I remember. Some individuals may be overlooked and for this reason, two blank pages are inserted to give everyone an opportunity to contribute to the memory of a special villager.

These are a number of the village people as I remember them; the people who knit the fabric of the community together. During the period after the Great War and during the depression years the population of the village remained rather constant.

A building boom took place in the '20s. Ten new houses were built, several sidewalks were extended and the main street paved. The village schools and churches remained the same. The upper room of the Elementary School received new desks and an addition was put on the Continuation School which allowed for a chemistry laboratory and a type of science became part of the curriculum.

The village spirit remained the same; the residential area encroached on the farm lands and some of the farmers had to pursue their agriculture endeavours surrounded by the village. Most householders had a garden; some kept chickens and there were even a few cows, numerous horses and a pig being fattened for winter bacon was not uncommon. The village was still a rural area.

Farmers sold their land after the Great War and many of them moved to the village. Some of these retired people did odd jobs; a few added to the skills of the community and the village society was established.

The names of village people are not taken from the cemetery, the annual village assessment, or from conversations with village families. It is the memories of a seventy-five year old who spent many years among the people and had daily associations with the people and village activities.
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