Things That Make Little Towns Buzz

Mainstreet of my home town (Oswego, KS) in the 1950s

Having been born and reared in a little Midwest town of 2,000 people, I have a pretty decent idea of what kinds of things create a stir in such places. And one thing that never fails is someone catching a big fish. Whether it was Harry Lynn, the old town barber, or my Uncle Bill Eads, when they caught a big 'un back in my day, it became the talk of the town.

Given that background, it should come as no surprise that I had my interest piqued in a hurry when I read an online story about a fella catching a 10-lb. bass from a 100-acre lake, near a town with a population of less than 600.

Seems an unknown angler with a cabin on this Pacific Northwest lake caught the double-digit largemouth, which was only about two-and-a-half pounds shy of the state record. He then stored it in a local sports center's cooler while looking for a suitable taxidermist. Didn't take more than one mention of this fish by the proprietor of the sports center to another local bass fisherman before everyone and their uncle were stopping by for a look-see.

The single concern mentioned by a few was that the fella had decided to keep the female fish for mounting. The majority, however, rationalized that the trophy fish likely was more than 20 years old, had spawned a dozen or more times, and thus probably soon would have died of old age.

After reading this account, I found myself sitting and remembering my childhood in a town where one of the biggest draws any given day of the week was the local drugstore's soda fountain, and where, every Saturday, the old-timers sat on the ledges of store-front windows, spinning their yarns of all the big fish they had caught and such. Believe me when I say that, if I could, I'd gladly return to those days in a heartbeat. Life is too complicated today for me.