by Pa Rock
Road Warrior
Yesterday Rosie and I made a quick visit to my hometown of Noel, Missouri, a fading tourist community in extreme southwest Missouri. It was the first time we had been back there since before the pandemic began, and to be honest, I did not see much that reminded me of "home."
The little town was generally sad.
There were few cars on Main Street, nor was there much reason that that there should have been any. The grocery store has moved off of Main and out to the edge of town. If there was anyplace on Main Street for a meal, or even just a soda, I didn't notice it. There is a looming eyesore where the old hardware store and an adjacent building burned last winter - and the bank - the place that I drove over two hundred miles to do business with, was locked tight.
The Walmart Waltons, a family of uncharitable billionaires, announced recently that they were closing the "Arvest" branch in Noel, the former State Bank of Noel, the town's only bank. The greedy Waltons sent letters on two separate occasions instructing me to show up and empty my safety deposit box before the bank's final day of business on June 30th.
And I was met with locked doors.
I walked over to the drive-through and managed to get the attention of one of the three employees who were inside of the bank. She admitted me to the inner-sanctum where I did my business, said my good-byes, and left.
I drove the length of Main Street one final time before heading out of town. All of the small businesses that lined the street during my youth are gone. We can thank Walmart for that - as well as for the closed bank. The old "Christmas City of the Ozarks" was little more than a corpse waiting to be buried.
The odometer had added 426 miles when we finally made it back home to West Plains late in the afternoon. It had been a hard day on the road. I can't imagine making the trip again any time soon - or perhaps ever.
Noel, Missouri, was an important part of my life for many years, but the little town that I knew and loved is gone. I will miss it - but I will move on.
Goodbye, Noel.
1 comment:
My recollections of you, and I think it was your friend Anna Harmon, had dreams of a bright and prosperous future for Noel. So I recognize how sad this blog was for you to write.
Your diagnosis of "Waltonitis" seems spot on. Scores of small communities have seen their business districts move Main Street to the edge of town.
Years ago, when we were young, their was an effort led by the federal government at urban renewal. Bulldozing slums, tenement housing, building affordable housing, building higher priced homes, and creating opportunities for businesses to thrive and people to earn a living were the goals of urban renewal.
Today America needs a similar effort at small town renewal to bring business opportunities back to Main Street, rehabilitate housing, improve infrastructure, and create employment.
Towns like Noel, Mo. don't have to be lost.
the clearing out of blighted areas in inner cities to clear out slumsand create opportunities for higher class housing, businesses, and more.
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