I had never been to the city and found myself headed there for some reason or other. Today I go as a function of the Arkansas Municipal League. That fine institution pays for me to visit any member city once a year to provide information in urban planning.
That early trip occurred long before my association with the League. I think the the president of Garver Engineers had asked me to visit. Anyway, I drove up on the old highways of the era and visited this fine city for the first time.
Lo and behold, when I arrived, all I heard from the folks there was northern accents. Now you have to consider, I was young then, and had been away from Arkansas for nearly six years. Had I gotten so far north in the state that the residents had lost the Southern accent?
Holy diphthong.
Well no, that wasn't it. Not in our state. I met one of the old-time city street supervisors and felt right at home again. What it was, was migration. People from the north had moved to this fabulous retirement destination to the extent that the local Post Office had to create a special drop box for the Chicago Tribute.
Anyway. I'll be there today. An old friend, Jeff Pipkin, is Chamber director now and he and I will meet with the Mayor after lunch. A former mayor of the city once almost hired me to prepare a plan for the area. I had just started my own consulting firm and that contract would have been a career-generator. Lucky for the mayor, and unlucky for me, she fell in love, got married, and left Arkansas for Florida with her new husband.
Maybe it was fortuitous in its own way. It made me build my "empire" by working with the small, unfortunate cities of our state. Maybe that was ordained in some way. It surely taught me what urban struggles are all about.
I'll let you know what happens in Mountain Home. Whatever it is, I'll have the pleasure of spending a day in a wonderful place.
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| Contemplating a wondrous future. |
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