Small Towns

Did the American Rescue Plan Act Help Save Your Small Town? Two years ago this month, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law. Today it appears to be doing what it was designed to do. …

I’m pulled toward a place where the stars shine more brightly and the river bends this way then that. I’m pulled toward the bright bakery where a group of sixty- and seventy-somethings meets for coffee while next door the plant-filled restaurant waits to open its doors for the lunch crowd…

We were recently on a short family vacation for three days in Kazimierz Dolny, Poland. Our main reason for coming here was to let our daughters swim in the pool. Kazimierz has beautiful architecture and is located near the Vistula River, making for a nice setting. It used to be…

I’m going on a day trip tomorrow with a friend. We’re driving three hours south to pick up something she’s buying, and we’re also going to high tea at a place we’ve been wanting to try. I decided to get cash today for tomorrow’s trip. I changed banks when I…

How one young girl’s business savvy saved her friend and a community — Esmeralda was born a businesswoman. She sold lemonade in third grade, designed personalized gift boxes in fifth, and launched a natural beauty line in high school. Her entrepreneurial prowess was unsurprising, considering her mother was a successful investment banker and her father ran Ohio’s largest real estate development firm.

Movie Review: Big Eden (2000) on Amazon Prime and the Roku Channel — Big Eden is what we wish could be. The film represents community at its finest, and an ideal small town where same sex orientation is casually affirmed. I could nit-pick about some little details in Big Eden, but that wouldn’t make this gay romance any less touching. …