Well, my "home town" is not easy to pinpoint. I have lived in a few "towns" but all in the same general area, and no more than 15 minutes apart from one another.
But, most of my impressionable growing up years were spent in an area called Chester, Ohio (home of Ohio's oldest standing court house). Though, it was outside of the actual "town" of Chester, in an addition of several homes.
At the bottom of the hill, where the addition ended, and where the school bus would pick us all up, was a skating rink. We spent many, many nights at that skating rink. I even had a crush on an older girl who worked the counter there. I would occasionally ask her to "couple skate" with me and she would oblige. She was very kind.
Around 1996 or 1997 I moved back to the small town of Rutland. I spent the first 4 years of my life living here. It is the town that my family's business is located in. So, I would say that, more than another other, is probably best considered my "home town".
Rutland has a population of about 400 to 500 people. Very, VERY tiny. Yet, we have two pizza joints, our family business, several churches, a candle shop, a department store (that has been there since the 1850')...
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...a civic center (an old school gymnasium), a park for children, two baseball fields, a post office, a tire shop, a feed and supply store, and of course, several homes. It's old, run down, and not much to look at, but it's something.
Rutland has two claims to fame, 1 of which is a positive, the other a negative (in my eyes). On the positive side, Brewster Higley, the writer of "Home on the Range" was born here. On the negative side, there is Skatopia. Uhg. It doesn't even deserve a description here, hence the link. Well, that and the fire dept. volunteers make a pretty locally famous roast beef sandwich that gets sold during all the local festivals (county fair, 4th of July festival, music festivals and so forth).
The county, in which all my places of residence throughout life exist, has a few other interesting people, sites, etc.
There is Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch. A place where musicians of all kinds come. There is a guitar camp, and other activities. Jorma was a founding member of Jefferson Airplane (which later became Jefferson Starship).
Then there is
Buffington Island, the only major Civil War battle in Ohio took place there, where a memorial park now resides.
Mike Bartrum was a former NFL longsnapper and now serves as one of our County Commissioners.
). Piney Flats was not too far south of Bristol, so when I got older we would venture up there and frequent some of the game stores or malls and such. Those were good times for sure.
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