Small Town America: Still Chugging

Today I want to begin a week-long series on Small Town America. I am interested in small towns, their culture, and their future, but I am particularly interested in bringing to all of our attention why we need them. I wrote once that we didn't or shouldn't want a country connected by fast food restaurants and interstate highways. America has always been a nation of contrasts and difference. Small towns reflect that diversity and much more.

Union Springs, Al, is a community that could have faded into the history books. Located in Bullock County, Union Springs has more than a third of its families living below the poverty line. But poverty is not what defines Union Springs. Thanks to an energetic group of people, Union Springs comes alive several times a year with its Conecuh people presentations among others. The restored Red Door Theatre(a renovated Episcopal Church) is bringing people to the community for the first time and then back again. If you apply the principles of Smart Communities, the town is definitely building on its assets, working together, and using the past to define the future. This is a town that celebrates its hunting traditions with a bird dog monument. It has a full complement of local businesses--granted no mall--but plenty of places to buy local. And it has a history to share. Union Springs is the kind of town that said "I think I can" and did. My guess is that the next step will be tackling the education and poverty issue. Only about two-thirds of the students in Bullock County finish high school. This should be their next big community project.