Downtown
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
Growing up in the town of Warsaw as a child I remember going "downtown" for the many parades.
In fact, I remember my dad marched in a parade down town where he put on his flight suit he wore in Vietnam, 15 years prior, and he proudly marched with other veterans within our community. There were beautiful horses dancing and prancing about. There were the shriners on their mini-bikes. The mini-bikes were in a class of their own. They were loud and fast and, well, darn right scary at times when they come right at you, but everytime you saw and heard them coming you would jump to your feet and wave and cheer.
From candy to the marching bands, to the homemade floats that took days to make. I also remember the miles or so it seemed of police, fire and medical personnel driving in the parade. My question is, where are the parades in Warsaw? Do you know how disheartening it is to read that Leesburg, Milford, Nappanee, Webster, Pierceton and Syracuse are all having Memorial Day parades, but Warsaw is not?
So while I'm on this soap box of Warsaw the Lost City, I need to bring up my concern with the Downtown Days. The events are few and far between and the vendors are less than a dozen. The kicker to this is you have people walking to this Downtown Day event but they and their children almost get run over. Why? Because there is a high-speed bike race going on in the middle of downtown.
When you are holding a downtown community event it is probably not the best place to put a bike race in the middle of. Taking a step back in time I remember Pioneer Days. The downtown was overflowing with people, food, vendors, games, smells, crafts and a genuine sense of community. There was what I always called the "Fish Tent." As a kid all I knew was it was the best fish sandwich I would have in my entire life.
Kline's had racks upon racks of clothes that filled an entire city block. The several picnic tables in the bank parking lot that had an endless supply of ice cold watermelon. I miss Warsaw and being able to let my kids have the same experiences that I had. I miss Butterfly, Hall Hardware, Breading's, Brennan's, The Lake Theatre, Dig's, Baskin Robbins, W.R. Thomas, Kline's, Tarkio and my dad taking me to the secret underground barbershop.
I could go on for days talking about shops downtown and people and experiences I had, but this is more about the shops, people and experiences my children won't have. Hat's off to Crownovers, Reinholt's, Readmore, Kelanie's, Rex's, Downtown, Celebrations, Creative Floral, Warsaw Tool, Hall and Marose, the Times-Union and others that have been here several years. Thank you for staying downtown, staying with Warsaw and lighting a fire under people like me to encourage others to come back, downtown.
Kelley McGuire
Warsaw[[In-content Ad]]
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Growing up in the town of Warsaw as a child I remember going "downtown" for the many parades.
In fact, I remember my dad marched in a parade down town where he put on his flight suit he wore in Vietnam, 15 years prior, and he proudly marched with other veterans within our community. There were beautiful horses dancing and prancing about. There were the shriners on their mini-bikes. The mini-bikes were in a class of their own. They were loud and fast and, well, darn right scary at times when they come right at you, but everytime you saw and heard them coming you would jump to your feet and wave and cheer.
From candy to the marching bands, to the homemade floats that took days to make. I also remember the miles or so it seemed of police, fire and medical personnel driving in the parade. My question is, where are the parades in Warsaw? Do you know how disheartening it is to read that Leesburg, Milford, Nappanee, Webster, Pierceton and Syracuse are all having Memorial Day parades, but Warsaw is not?
So while I'm on this soap box of Warsaw the Lost City, I need to bring up my concern with the Downtown Days. The events are few and far between and the vendors are less than a dozen. The kicker to this is you have people walking to this Downtown Day event but they and their children almost get run over. Why? Because there is a high-speed bike race going on in the middle of downtown.
When you are holding a downtown community event it is probably not the best place to put a bike race in the middle of. Taking a step back in time I remember Pioneer Days. The downtown was overflowing with people, food, vendors, games, smells, crafts and a genuine sense of community. There was what I always called the "Fish Tent." As a kid all I knew was it was the best fish sandwich I would have in my entire life.
Kline's had racks upon racks of clothes that filled an entire city block. The several picnic tables in the bank parking lot that had an endless supply of ice cold watermelon. I miss Warsaw and being able to let my kids have the same experiences that I had. I miss Butterfly, Hall Hardware, Breading's, Brennan's, The Lake Theatre, Dig's, Baskin Robbins, W.R. Thomas, Kline's, Tarkio and my dad taking me to the secret underground barbershop.
I could go on for days talking about shops downtown and people and experiences I had, but this is more about the shops, people and experiences my children won't have. Hat's off to Crownovers, Reinholt's, Readmore, Kelanie's, Rex's, Downtown, Celebrations, Creative Floral, Warsaw Tool, Hall and Marose, the Times-Union and others that have been here several years. Thank you for staying downtown, staying with Warsaw and lighting a fire under people like me to encourage others to come back, downtown.
Kelley McGuire
Warsaw[[In-content Ad]]
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