Big Weekend

Heart of the summer, and, Aug. 18-20, lots of things going on here in Galesburg. I'm proud of the town for doing the best it can to entertain us resi-nts with high-quality small-town things to do.

The two that interest me most are the Heritage Days re-enactments out at Lake Storey and the Car Show downtown where I presume all the fine old cars will be parked all along the fine old downtown.

What I like the most about Galesburg is that it reminds me of growing up in Toledo Ohio in the 1950s. Kids still play out in the yards and the street. People still hang around outside in the good weather. The downtown gives the impression of being a downtown, such that even if you are a block or two off Main Street you are still downtown. And finally, a lot of people know each other, so you often see people visiting along the streets and outside the various establishments.

It has been losing population over the last few decades; most places have. In fact only the college towns and some places like Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming have really been gaining ground. Much of the US is experiencing a major population decline as whole swathes of young people either choose not to have children, or can't because they just aren't finding each other. I'm not sure what that's about entirely but it's covered up significantly by immigration and the fact that the young people now filling our schools and even playing on our streets are more likely to be not from the traditional families that have been in this town forever.

I didn't mean to turn this into a reflection on what Galesburg is evolving into, but I'm grateful that, as a town, it is still watching out for us and putting on the dog, so to speak. I read a scathing indictment of the City Aldermen getting lawyers and having us pay for it, to defend themselves against the consequences of their own shenanigans, but, I don't want to get into that here as I'd still like to see it more simplistically at least for the moment.

My son came here for about a month, to recover from a bizarre experience and rebuild his life, which is basically in Chicago. While he was here I tried to persuade him to move here, but, no dice. He's too invested in Chicago and it would be too dramatic a change for him to do that. Nevertheless, the experience got me a little different perspective on Galesburg as I basically tried to sell it to him. He enjoyed it while it was here. It will always, however, probably be his parents' place, not his, and a place to rest, away from the city's hustle. I was able to say to him, why go back?