Hello Patrick,
My it is a small world, isn't it? I'm a 40-something year old computer geek that immediately recognized the big town of Independence. My parents grew up between Neosha and Chanute. I'll call my mom after bit and call the rest of the family down in Chanute. I live south of Tampa, Florida now. I was last through your little town last summer with my mom to return home to see family and attend a cousin's wedding.
Thank you for sharing your exiting weekend with us in the telecom group and letting those of us who still remember the joys that small Kanasas towns have to offer.
David
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are quite welcome; I guess Independence is the 'big town' compared to the other places you named, which are smaller and more rural. I know on Friday and Saturday night, a lot of rural people come through town to the Independence Cinema and also to see the high school basketball/football games, etc. Do you remember about one year ago when the New York Times ran the full page story about Independence, calling us the 'magical town in southeast Kansas'? It seems a lady and her husband were traveling from the west coast back to New York, and on much of the trip came through Kansas on Highway 169. She said they decided to stop overnight here, staying at a motel (I think it was the Appletree Inn downtown). She was rather amazed at how little their room cost, and instead of hitting the road early the next morning, decided to look all over town, and was 'just delighted' at things like our real-genuine drug store downtown with an actual soda fountain/lunch counter; all the stores downtown lined up one after another on Penn Street, etc, all very 1930 to 50-ish; our radio station, our daily newspaper, etc and perhaps some will be impresed, our _very tiny_ by comparison (perhaps fifty page) telephone directory from Southwestern Bell.My nephew Justin went back to Orlando just several days ago, and I recall him one day asking me, "Can I look something up in the phone book?" I handed him the directory, which resembles an early issue of _Readers Digest_ (that size and shape, about fifty pages with a staple in the side binder.) Poor Justin, his eyes bulged out of his head as he said, "Is that the WHOLE phone book?" He saw SBC's name and logo on the front cover, along with admonitions to use 911 in emergency and he marveled saying "our phone book in Orlando is much larger." I told him so is the phone book for Manhattan or Chicago. I told him not only is it Independence listings, but all the listings for the six southern- most counties in Kansas. PAT]