Vee, Do you happen to live in what I call "Small Town, America"? I grew up in (and still have a house in) one such town....... population 4100. There, people are still very caring of each other. (And, I very much enjoy spending time there.) My parents did me a great service by encouraging me to not only help any neighbor but to be especailly helpful to older people. And, since a lot of the people in my parents' and grandparents' age-range were always so good to me, it was easy for me to learn that they deserved a lot in return. So, I have always used a "Pay it forward" approach... even with genealogy. Living mostly in a huge city atmosphere for many years now, I tried to show our 4 children that these important values can still be used. And, as I watch them now (as adults), I see that this "took". But, I also see that the vast majority of younger people in this city do not seem to understand older people. Personally, I think that this is because they haven't have the wonderful opportunity to know many older people on a day-to- day basis. Anyway, it sounds to me as though you live near to some truly caring people, and I am very happy for you. Leslie

Dear Lesli, Yes I guess I do live in Small Town America. In fact the population of the entire Town of Porter is only 6,920. I grew up in the city of Niagara Falls, NY and even though we knew who our neighbors were, I don't remember any particular "neighborliness" between all of us. We had family friends and no doubt we did things for each other, but that was about it. But now I DO have caring neighbors and I'm still trying to feel comfortable with all that they do for me. About the only thing I ever did for them was to share my bountiful blueberries with them and the bounty of the English walnuts from my tree. Oh, and of course, the bounty of my vegetable garden. Oh let me tell you another neighbor story that still makes me laugh. He was my next door neighbor at the time but we barely knew each other. His name was Doug. One day I left the house at just the right time to get to the historical society right on the dot. I believe that it was in the summer inasmuch as I had my parked outside my door rather in my barn/garage. When I went outside my door and looked toward the car I could see a big woodchuck/groundhog strolling by my car on the passenger side. I shooed him away but instead of his scurrying off into the fields or wherever, he ducked under my car. Oh, great! I bent down and looked under the car but I couldn't see him anywhere. OK, now what! I decided to open the hood of my car and see if he was anywhere in the engine compartment and by George, there he was huddled toward the back of the engine. I decided to get a long stick to poke him out of there. I found one and gave him a poke. It worked; however he ended back underneath my car. I bent over and gave him another poke and back he went into the engine compartment. I knew that I was in a no-win situation and I didn't dare drive off with him anywhere near my car. Right at that time I saw Doug working in his yard. I gave him a big yoo hoo and waved to him to come over. When I told him the situation, he was as puzzled as I was. He tried the poking bit and soon realized that we weren't going anywhere. Finally, I thought of something that might work. I got a broom out of my barn and handed it to him. I told him that I would poke the woodchuck who was in the engine compartment at the time and the minute I did that, he was to make a sweeping motion underneath the car to chase him away. At first he wasn't quick enough but once he got the hang of the importance of speed, between the two of us, we dislodged the woodchuck by poking and sweeping and off he lumbered away from the car. After the woodchuck was gone, Doug and I had a big laugh over it. Neither of us ever imagined that we would be working together with a stick and a broom to persuade a woodchuck to leave the area. I believe that it was because of that incident that we became friendlier neighbors. He always made certain that my driveway was plowed and in return I helped his wife in her college course regarding her being required to give a critique of a story, sort of a book report. In addition, I taught her some of the computer basics. I guess that's what neighbors do for each other. Note. I was definitely late getting to the museum that day but after I had told them the bizarre story of the woodchuck, they certainly understood my tardiness. vee ----- Original Message ----- From: "~~Leslie~~" <Aug67@cox.net> To: <NYNIAGAR-FOLKS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, March 04, 2005 11:18 AM Subject: *Re: [FOLKS] Re: Snow and another good neighbor > Vee, > > Do you happen to live in what I call "Small Town, America"? > I grew up in (and still have a house in) one such town....... > population 4100. There, people are still very caring of each > other. (And, I very much enjoy spending time there.) > > My parents did me a great service by encouraging me to not only help any > neighbor but to be especailly helpful to older > people. And, since a lot of the people in my parents' and > grandparents' age-range were always so good to me, it was > easy for me to learn that they deserved a lot in return. So, I > have always used a "Pay it forward" approach... even with > genealogy. > > Living mostly in a huge city atmosphere for many years now, > I tried to show our 4 children that these important values can > still be used. And, as I watch them now (as adults), I see that > this "took". But, I also see that the vast majority of younger > people in this city do not seem to understand older people. > Personally, I think that this is because they haven't have the > wonderful opportunity to know many older people on a day-to- > day basis. > > Anyway, it sounds to me as though you live near to some truly > caring people, and I am very happy for you. > > Leslie > >