Nothing to Do? I Love This Town!

When I was growing up in a small town, I often heard the complaint that there was nothing to do there. In fact, I probably said it myself at least a dozen times. Then I went away to college and I heard people complaining the same way about my new town.  A town that is probably three times the size of the one I grew up in.  For a while, I tried telling people that they had no idea what a boring town was like.  I finally came to the realization that it's really just about your perspective.

I actually love living in a "small" town.  I see people I know at the grocery store all the time.  Most of them are even people I like!  I can take my kids to a park and they will find playmates they know from school or church there to play with.  They have been mingling with friends at various caps they have been to so far this summer.

And, our local fire department has a great safety program that we participate in year after year.  Each summer, in mid-July they host a smoke detector checking event.  The police department offers to come to your house, check your smokes alarms and replace any batteries that need to be replaced.  They will also bring you a new alarm if yours is broken or missing.  They even offer to come back and install it at a later date if you want them too.

The best part is that they "bribe" people into participating by partnering with a local Cici's Pizza and delivering pizzas while they do it!  All you have to do is call Cici's (or go to the online ordering page they set up) and provide your address and what kind of pizza you'd like (cheese, pepperoni or sausage).  Then the fire fighters deliver it!  In uniform and with departmental trucks!  This year we got an SUV, but we've had the big red ladder truck a few times!

The kids always get so excited about this night and last night was no different.  Frances and Henry put on their fire fighter costumes to go out and meet the delivery crew.  (Benjamin prefers greeting the garbage trucks in the mornings, instead.)  One of the guys that delivered our pizza even says he remembers coming to our house once before when they kids were much younger!

 After they left, we settled in for pizza and a movie.  To round out our dinner we had fresh cucumbers straight from my parent's garden and strawberry applesauce made from apples we picked last fall and strawberries we picked in the spring.  YUM!

This a great community event.  It promotes safety in a way that makes it easy to participate.  I imagine that it takes a lot of planning to get started, but it seems like something any community could do.  All it takes is a fire department, a willing pizza place, and possibly some grant funding.  Does your community do anything like this?

UPDATE: I just heard from the local fire department that over 500 pizzas were delivered and fire alarms checked in four hours last night!