Synopsis
For my entire life, I have been influenced by my small town upbringing. I call it Waldo Wisdom. And I wasn’t in a small town by happenstance. My dad, through his travels around north Florida came across Waldo, a small town of about 750 people that fit the small-town life that he and mother were hoping would influence the values of their children. When they moved to Waldo, it had a K-12 school which had a football and basketball team along with baseball. A town that had a drug store (complete with a lunch counter that also served cherry and vanilla cokes and real ice cream milkshakes), a hardware store, a dry goods store, along with not one, not two, but three grocery stores that had meat markets! On top of all of that, there were a number of churches from which to choose to attend and to become involved with. And, to top it all off, there was a train station, where one could catch a train to south Florida or to the Carolinas and most anywhere their heart desired. This town, indeed, had almost everything! Even though my parents raised us four kids some two miles north of town at the truck stop they owned and operated, we attended a number of events in the town itself. Attending the high school football, basketball and baseball games inspired me to play those sports as I grew up. I was mesmerized when I attended high school plays! And, was a proud ‘youngin’ by being selected to be the prince for my class in the May Day celebration that included a prince and princess from each grade as well as the senior class king and queen. It was quite something! We attended church on a regular basis and I became involved in youth activities there as well. Additionally, I was involved in Scouting and 4-H. All-in-all, being raised in this kind of environment was exhilarating! There were Homecoming parades, high school sporting games to attend, and were all kinds of opportunities to be involved in various clubs and organizations. There was ‘dinner (lunch) on the grounds’ after church every three or four months. As I became a teenager, I was permitted to go to the local rec center where there would be live music by local talent that comprised the band that played on the weekends, where we could dance, play ping pong or just visit. As a kid, it was lots of fun growing up at Waldo! When I finished the second grade, the County School Board consolidated grades 9-12 with the ‘big school’ in Alachua County, Gainesville High School. That immediately ended the local football, basketball and such games and activities that I had enjoyed as a youngster. It was disappointing to my parents that we kids wouldn’t be going to high school right there in Waldo. It would mean that we would spend more time on a bus and less time helping out at the business or on the family’s small farm. And for us, it meant that we faced a challenge to attend high school sporting events and high school functions because they all were now in Gainesville. But life goes on. As I became older, we played sandlot football and baseball at the school grounds and played lots of basketball at the ‘court’ downtown - right on SR 24 just before where Hwy. 301 overpass is (the court still exists today and there’s a little smile in my heart and wonderful memories come to mind every time I pass by the court and see kids playing). I learned a lot being raised in a small town. Community, family, friendship and being neighborly are all qualities I witnessed and have done my best throughout my life to emulate. And even though I no longer live in a small town, Waldo Wisdom lives on in my heart and hopefully, in my deeds.
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