Creating and sharing memories

This weekend my daughter, Corinne, and her boyfriend, Ryan, were here from Evansville for a visit to Alexandria. Staying at her grandparents gave her the opportunity to show her boyfriend some of the highlights of the Alexandria area, and I had the privilege of going along.

One of the highlights of the tour was a visit to the World's Largest Ball of Paint, a roadside attraction that no one should miss. Both Corinne and Ryan had the opportunity to add a coat of paint to the ball, sign their names in the registry, and obtained a certificate showing that they had placed another layer of paint on the ball. Corinne even bought Ryan a T-shirt so that he would always remember the visit.

We toured the area of Orestes and Alexandria, showing them the old Orestes Elementary, the famous Oak Tree, Red Gold and the county landfill. As we came into Alexandria down Harrison Street, we showed them some of the old storefronts and stopped by the library. A trip to Gaither Family Resources to show one thriving business that Alexandria is famous for and a trip by the old ball diamonds.

As we drove, mom started talking about the old mill in Alexandria and remembering when her grandfather would haul grain into town and she would ride along. At that time the roads were all gravel. This was a memory that she hadn't shared before, or I hadn't remembered. We drove by where the old Armscamp Speedway was and she told me that her dad used to qualify the cars for her uncle to drive, another story that I need to find out more about. We drove by the old abandoned Lippincott glass factory and pointed out where the Alexandria Hospital used to be, as well as the old paper mill, etc. It is hard to believe that the town had so many factories at one time.

Memories like this need to be written down and I plan to 'interview' mom over the holidays and the coming weeks to get these types of stories written down.